The Hard Part
by AdmHawthorne
Summary: Set after 2x13. Jane and Maura wake up and have a little talk after what appears to have been a big night for both of them. Rated T but there are some four letter words here.
1. Chapter 1

**Set after 2x13.**

**Characters aren't mine. They belong to the amazing Tess Gerritsen, Jane Tamaro, TNT, WB, and other assorted important people.**

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><p>"Jane?" The quiet, sleep filled voice of Maura Isles filled the silence of the bedroom as the morning sun shone in through the crack in the barely closed curtains.<p>

"Hmm?" Shifting to allow the smaller woman to rest her head on Jane's shoulder, the detective glanced down to see the puzzled look on the other woman's upturned face.

"What's bothering you?" Honey brunette locks tickled Jane's face as Maura snuggled in against her. "Tell me," she whispered, her breath running across exposed olive skin and causing the other woman to shiver.

"Nothing's bothering me," came the husky reply. "I'm just… I thought the hard part would be us taking the next step and then eventually telling everyone. But the hard part was not knowing if you'd still be here when I woke up this morning, and," Jane placed a kiss in the crown of unruly hair still tickling her face, "you're still here."

Maura gave a small shake of her head. "Where else would I be?"

Lithe shoulders gave a shrug, careful not to disturb. "I don't know. Anywhere but here? I mean, there was a chance you woke up and realized this was all some really bad mistake and took off before I could wake up."

"Not likely." Maura's voice was clearing, and there was an edge of humor to it. "First of all, you almost always wake up before I do. Second of all, when I do wake up before you and try to sneak off to the restroom, you pull me back into bed, and that was before last night, so I think you'd know if I were trying to sneak away. Lastly, my dress is completely ruined. What would I wear to leave? I'd have to borrow some of your clothing, and that would certainly wake you. As it stands, I'm still going to have to borrow something." She kissed Jane's neck.

"Yeah," a deep chuckled echoed through the room, "sorry about that. I can buy you another one."

"Don't worry about it. I probably wouldn't have worn it again. It's frowned upon to wear the same dress to more than one social event of the season." The doctor gave a light sigh, her free hand lightly running over Jane's body. "Thank you for going with me. You looked amazing in the Chanel."

"Anytime," a small gasp escaped the detective despite herself. "Maura, are we going to be okay?"

"Time will tell, but I feel confident in us. I trust in the strength of our relationship, don't you?"

"I'm trying. I mean, I _trust_ you. I trust you so much, but this is new, and what if everyone we know freaks out when they find out? And what about Gabe and Ian and… God!" Jane groaned, rubbing her free hand over her face. "What about Casey?"

"What about them?" Maura pushed up so she could look the other woman in the eyes. "I have no interest in continuing to pine away for Ian. He's from another lifetime ago, a ghost from my past, and the next time he comes into town, he'll have an unpleasant surprise, I'm afraid." She tilted her head, eyes running over the sharp features before her. "Would you rather be with Casey or Gabe?"

The answer was softly spoken, and Jane's fingers ran lightly along Maura's jawline as she gave a small smile. "No," she shook her head. "I'm happy where I am."

"Good, then you can tell them you're taken, and Ian can go find a hotel when he decides to resurface." Maura smirked, lowering herself to nuzzle at Jane's neck. "You have a hickey."

"Of course I do," came the flatlined response. "Can I cover it with a shirt?"

"Not well," one manicured finger ran over the mark, "but makeup applied correctly could conceal it. I can help you if you want."

"Already marking your territory, Dr. Isles," Jane joked as she moved to sit up.

Maura's voice was low. "Can you blame me?"

Shaking her head, Jane slipped from the bed. "I'm going to feed Jo. Why don't you hit the bathroom, and then give me a few in there, and then we can take a shower. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect."

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><p>"God, this towel, I swear it has a mind of its own," Jane muttered to herself as she flipped a large, navy blue towel around herself and tucked it into place. "All I want you to do, towel, is stay in place. Is that too much to ask?" She ran a hand through her wet hair, shaking it to loosen up the strands.<p>

"Naked Day at BPD again?" Casey's voice threw Jane, who yelped and turned to her open laptop.

"Crap! Why do you keep doing that?" A scowl settled on the detective's face.

"It's not my fault you keep forgetting to close your chat. Besides, I remembered you were going to some big social thing in Boston last night, and I wanted to see how it went. I looked it up online this morning. Did you know you're in the paper? That dress looked really nice on you, Jane." He smiled at her.

"Thanks." She shrugged. "It went alright. Maura was the keynote speaker, so I spent a lot of time at a table with people who make more in interest on their liquid investments in one hour than I make in a month's worth of paychecks, but I'm getting better at holding my own at those things. This time, I only embarrassed her once, and that was toward the end of the night, thank God."

"I can't wait to hear that story!" Casey chuckled as his eyes ran over the towel clad woman in front of him. Suddenly, the smile on his face dropped. "What happened to your neck?"

Jane stopped her hand midmotion as it automatically went to the hickey to cover it. She slowly pulled her hand down again, and took in a deep breath. "It's a bruise." She shrugged.

"It's a hickey," he shot back. "Who did you sleep with last night?"

"You know," Jane's voice became defensive, "I don't really think you have the right to ask me that question. We're not dating, Casey."

"I thought we'd made it clear that we were interested in each other, and now you've picked up some socialite at last night's event?" He gave a grunt of disapproval. Though his voice remained calm, his words were biting. "I thought you didn't sleep around."

"I don't," Jane spat back. "And screw you, Casey! Who do you think you are to even _say _that? Who I do and don't sleep with is none of your damned business."

He raised an eyebrow, frowning deeply. "So you _did_ sleep with someone last night? Who is he?"

"I'm done." She made a reach for the computer, but was stopped by a delicate hand on top of her own. Glancing over, she saw Maura had finished drying her hair, but was still in the large, deep red towel she had been wearing when Jane had walked into the kitchen. Hazel eyes met her with a look somewhere between worry and pleading, and the detective realized this was her first test. She was determined to not fail it.

"Who is that?" Casey leaned, trying to get a better view of the hand that had just come into the view.

"The person I slept with last night, and," Jane said as she stepped backwards, away from the computer, "the person I'm seeing."

He gave another grunt, crossing his arms in front of him. "Just like that?"

"Yeah, just like that." She shrugged. "I told you, Casey, I'm done. I'd like to be your friend, but that's as far as it gets."

"Are you at least going to step where I can see you?" He called out. "I'd like to at least know who I lost to."

Jane turned her head, giving a nod yes despite the color dropping from her face. Maura stepped into the camera's view. Without shoes on, she was tiny next to the lanky detective, and she easily rested her head on Jane's chest as she wrapped her arms around the side of the detective.

Casey's jaw dropped, eyes growing wide. "Are you fucking kidding?" The disbelief in his voice reflected on his face.

"You never had a chance," Jane said, a cocky smirk spreading across her face. "But, if it makes you feel better, this just happened recently."

"How recently," he asked, eyes narrowing.

"Last night," she replied as she turned her head to place a kiss on Maura's forehead. "Look, I am sorry, Casey."

"Yeah, so am I, Jane. I suppose no one else knows." He ran a hand over his face, sighing heavily.

"No, not yet, but I doubt we can keep it under wraps for long. You know how nosey Ma is, and she lives in Maura's guest house." Jane gave a nervous chuckle. "My life's complicated."

"Clusterfuck," Casey said from behind his hand.

"Yeah, pretty much," she agreed.

Maura frowned. "I hardly think it's that bad. Once the shock wears off, I'm sure most will be fine with the change. For example, you are taking this all very well, Casey."

"No, I'm really not, but I can't yell and scream. I'm in a tent in the desert. If I blow my top, my whole squad will hear it, and they'll never let me live it down if they find out the really hot woman I've been talking to and about for the past month dumped me for another really hot woman… who is a doctor." He cleared his throat. "I don't like this. I don't understand this. I don't condone it. But, I refuse to make a scene. Soldiers handle things in stride, and that's what I'm doing." He shook his head. "Good luck, Jane. You know where to find me when you come to your senses." With a final grunt, Casey cut the connection.

"Come to your senses?" Maura was clearly offended. "I can't believe he just said that."

"I can. Put yourself in his place. That went way better than it probably should have." Jane sighed, pulling away from the other woman. "As sexy as you look in my towel, I'm going to have to ask you to go raid my closet for clothes while I go finish drying off. I'm starving, and I think it's going to be a long day. He's right, it's going to be a cluster, and we need to talk about how to deal with it when it comes."

"Are _you_ suggesting we have a plan of action?" Maura's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"For once, I am. I don't want to screw this up because we weren't ready to deal with how people might act. If I screw this up, I want it to be because I'm an idiot." The detective grimaced. "You know I don't want to screw this up, right?"

Chuckling, Maura turned to head to the bedroom. "Yes, I know, and I understand what you're saying. I think I have some clothes tucked away in the bottom of your nightstand. Go dry your hair, and I'll be ready when you are."

"I just hope we're both ready," Jane muttered as she headed for the bathroom.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Your reviews are much appreciated.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**I decided to keep with it. No idea how many chapters this will be. I'll just update it as I go along, I think.**

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><p>"I'll have the number 3 with scrambled eggs, cheese, bacon, and whole wheat cinnamon toast. I don't really want the butter. Can you bring my some jelly instead?" Jane finished her order and took a sip of her coffee while she waited.<p>

"I'll have a number 2. Eggs whites only, please. Instead of hash browns, I'd like a cup of fruit." Maura smiled agreeably at the server who took down the order and promised to return quickly with their meals. "I've always liked this place. It has a certain charm to it," she said brightly as she glanced around the small diner.

"Charm? I think that's the cook you're smelling," the detective gave a wink over the brim of her coffee mug.

Frowning, Maura added a hint of creamer to her coffee as she berated the woman across from her. "That is … I don't even have words for how unappetizing that makes the food here. Must you do that?"

"Hey, you knew what you were getting into when you agreed to be my… my…" The words stopped just short of actually coming out, and the normally assured husky voice cracked. "Well, you know."

"No, I don't," an evil grin graced the doctor's face. It was clear she wasn't going to make things easy. "Your what? Your best friend? Your coworker? Your yoga partner? Your what, Jane?"

"Really? Are you going to make me say it right here in the middle of the restaurant?" The distinctive sound of a lanky leg bouncing under the table was the start of various indicators that told everyone within eyeshot that Jane Rizzoli was nervous and a little scared.

"You've already claimed me in front of someone, but I won't force you to say or do anything that you're not ready to do," hazel eyes fell to the table. "It's okay. It was only a tease."

"No," Jane shook her head, sitting up straighter in her side of the booth as she did so, "it's not okay, Maura. I mean, thank you for being understanding, but this is just something that I need to work through how I work through things."

Maura frowned deeply. "You have a tendency to act and then deal with the consequences at a later time."

"Hey," a scarred hand shot out to wrap around one fine boned wrist. "Do not _ever_ think I went into this without thinking about. It's all I've been thinking about for months now. I've thought about all the consequences, and, honestly, they don't matter compared to being with you. Last night wasn't just something I jumped into without thought, okay? You mean a lot more to me than some random, last minute decision."

The detective was rewarded with a weak smile. "That means a lot to mean to me to know that. Thank you."

"I think I'm the one who should be thanking you for waiting for me to get my act together. Hold on a second." Standing, Jane nodded to indicate that Maura should scoot over. Despite her confusion, the smaller woman did so, and the detective slid into the booth beside her. Draping her right arm across the back of the seat and over Maura's shoulders, she settled in and pulled her coffee cup to her. "Better." She leaned over to lay a gentle kiss on the still stunned face of the doctor. "So you want to talk about how we're going to tell Ma?"

"I… yes, but first I want to talk about what just happened." Maura shifted to lean a bit more on Jane. "Are you sure you're okay with this? There's no question about our relationship if we sit like this, Jane."

"I know, and that's the point. There's some beefy guy in the corner that's been eyeing you, and I don't like it." Jane pulled the smaller woman in closer to her. "I promise I'll try not to be too territorial, but you know I've always hated it when I see people undressing you with their eyes."

Smirking, Maura quietly shot back, "You do it all the time."

"Yeah, and now I can do it for real, and the rest of them can bite it." The smile on Jane's face beamed. "I've always said that being gay wasn't any different than being straight except both people have the same parts, so I'm walking into this like it's any other relationship because it is."

"So you always wrapped your arms around your boyfriends like this?" Maura's voice held a lilt of amusement at the husky grunt she received for her teasing.

"No, but I never wanted to. I want to hold you. If you're not okay with that, then…"

"I'm more than okay with it. If we have issues from others, we'll deal with them as they come."

As the server brought their food, they reluctantly pulled away from each other and began to discuss how to handle Angela Rizzoli.

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><p>"Ma?" Jane's voice echoed through Maura's house. "Are you in here watching Bill O'Reilly again?"<p>

"I was until you came in here screaming," Angela sat up on the sofa and turned to face her daughter. "Hi, Maura."

"Hello, Angela," Maura gave a little wave. "We were wondering if you had a few moments? There's something Jane and I wanted to discuss with you."

"Of course; hold on a second and let me just turn this off." Angela stood, turning the television off and then walked into the kitchen to sit down at the island. "What's on your mind, girls?"

Uncomfortable and clearly anxious, they looked to each other before Jane began to speak. "Ma, I don't know how to really start this off. I mean, I know you tell me I can tell you whatever, but sometimes that's not so easy."

"Are you kicking me out?" The elder Rizzoli's face dropped into a horrified expression as she looked to the doctor.

"No! No, of course not," Maura reassured. "I meant it when I said you could stay here as long as you needed. Angela, please, just bear with us a moment. This is a new situation, and…"

"Has something happened with Tommy? Jane, is he in jail again?"

"No, Ma, as far as I know, Tommy's at work." Her daughter gave an exasperated sigh. "Ma, could you just…"

"Is it Frankie? Is he hurt again? That job is going to get you two killed one of these days." Angela was starting to roll into full on panic mode.

"Okay, I'm going to have ask you to stop." Crossing her arms and leaning against the cabinet behind her, Jane rolled her eyes. "Nothing's wrong with Tommy or Frankie. Everyone is fine. This is about me, okay? Well," she shrugged, "it's about me and Maura."

Looking from one woman to the other, Angela asked quietly, "What about you?"

"Look," her daughter glanced down for a moment to compose, "I don't really know how to say this gently, but I wanted you to hear it from us and not through the precinct grapevine." Swallowing the lump down, Jane quietly told her mother, "Ma, Maura and I are dating each other."

"I thought those were just rumors." Deflated, Angela sat back on the stool trying to take in this new information.

"It was until yesterday," Maura gently explained. "Jane was finally ready to move forward, and so was I."

"I don't really know what to say," Angela muttered before clamping her jaw closed.

For a long moment, they were quiet as the younger women waited to see what would happen. Finally, Angela spoke, voice rougher than normal, weary. "We've always been good people, Jane. We're Catholic."

Jane hung her head, unable to look her mother in the eye. "I know, Ma." Maura placed a hand on Jane's arm to comfort her but remained quiet. Her presence was there as a show of support and, if need be, she was there to mediate.

"But," Angela continued on, lost in her thoughts, "with your father filing for divorce and Tommy's record and Frankie almost being a father himself, maybe I didn't do as good of a job as I thought raising all of you like I should have."

"No, Ma, don't do that. You and Pop both did everything you could. We're grown, and you can't be responsible for the decisions that we've made after we left the house. You did good. I mean, sure, Frankie can get annoying, and, yeah, I know I can be a pain in the ass, but we're good people. We _are_, and Tommy… Tommy tries." Jane stepped toward her mother, voice full of sympathy. "Me dating Maura doesn't make me a bad person. I'm still the same person I was two weeks ago or two years ago."

"Except you're sleeping with another woman," her mother said, voice sounding tired. "What do I tell people when they ask? How do I explain this to the family? Father Marcos is going to excommunicate you, Jane."

The detective shrugged, "Maybe, but how I live my life is really between me and God. You know I haven't been to church in a long time. Maybe it's time I found a different church? One that accepts me…"

"A different church? You mean, convert? To what? You're not going to go off and start practicing witchcraft or something, are you?" Her mother balked, leaning slightly away from her.

Behind her, Jane could hear Maura stifle a chuckle. "No, I'm not going to start practicing witchcraft. Where do you come up with this stuff? Besides, what difference does it make what church I go to as long as I go?"

"But you haven't been going!" Angela wailed, shaking her head.

"Yeah, well, maybe that's because I didn't like what they're saying. If your church is saying you're going to go to Hell for something you really can't control, you're probably attending the wrong church." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Jane took a moment. "I can't control who I'm attracted to, and I don't want to keep pretending to be attracted to people that I'm not."

"What are you saying? Are you telling me that you've always wanted to date women?" Her mother's voice went up an octave, eyes wide with surprise.

"I… I don't know that I'm ready for this," the detective muttered.

"You don't have to say anything you're not ready to say or don't want to say," Maura replied as she stepped forward to place a reassuring hand on Jane's back. "Angela, what matters right at this moment is what all of us will do with this information going forward. You live in my home, but it is my home, and, though you are always welcome here, I hope you know that I'm not going to hide my relationship with Jane while you're present."

"I never said you should!" The elder Rizzoli was defensive.

"No, you didn't, but I want to make it clear where I stand, and I think it's only fair that you tell us where you stand." Maura could feel Jane tensing, breath becoming shallow as she prepared for the worst.

"Okay," Angela nodded, "my only daughter walks in with her best friend and tells me she's dating her. My youngest son is a convict and a recovering alcoholic. My middle child wants to be just like his sister, which is why they've both been shot, stabbed, and nearly died. My husband is divorcing me because he's bored with me, and I'm working for a man who can't stand it when the doughnuts touch." She closed her eyes, swallowing hard. "But, my children are all healthy," she continued, eyes still closed, "I have a job. I have a place to stay, and I think I'm getting close to being able to move out. I have good friends. My children have good friends." She opened her eyes to look at the doctor. "Things could be worse," she said quietly.

"Yes, they could," Maura nodded.

"I think," Angela said as she stood up, "that I don't understand it, but I've seen a lot in my years, and I've known a few gay men. Their lives weren't easy. Jack died of AIDS, you know." Jane nodded. "I loved him like a brother, but I never approved of his lifestyle, but, looking back, I don't think it was the fact that he was gay. I think it was because he never settled down." Walking to the sofa to pick up her cell phone, Angela dropped it in her pocket and turned around to again face the other two women. "I love you, Jane. You're my child, my only daughter. I'd love you if you shot someone in cold blood. My love for you is unconditional; you know that. But I think I'm going to need some time."

She turned to the doctor. "Maura, thank you for letting me stay here, and I'll deal with anything that might make me uncomfortable as long as I'm here. You're right. This _is_ your home, and I'll respect your rules. That's only fair. The divorce is… the divorce," she swallowed hard, wiping at her eyes, "is almost final, so I'm thinking that it'll only be a couple of more weeks before I can move. It looks like I might actually get the house, which would be nice. It's paid for. Would it be too much to ask if you two would at least warn me if you want to plan a night alone? I don't think I could handle walking in on that right now."

"I…" Jane blinked. "I have an apartment," was the only thing she could bring herself to say.

"We'll be discreet when we should," Maura assured. "Is there anything we can do, the three of us, to make this easier to adjust to?"

"No," Angela shook her head. "No, I just… I need some time, that's all. I think I need to pray on it."

"That's fair," the doctor nodded. "You should know that we plan to tell a few others – Frankie, Tommy, Vince, and Barry. We think it's only fair they know from us, just as we thought it was fair that you know."

"You're the first, Ma," Jane's voice was just above a whisper, her face showing the pain she was feeling at how distraught her mother clearly was.

"I'm glad you told me," Angela said as she walked to the back door. "I'm going to bed." With that, the backdoor closed with a quiet click.

"Oh my God," the detective groaned, "I think I just broke my mother's heart."

"She's just in shock, but I think she'll be fine. She didn't overreact or disown you as we feared she might. I think we should give her the time she's asked for and respect her need for some filtering of our relationship." Maura took Jane's hand and pulled her to the bedroom. "Come keep me company while I pack a few things."

Jane blinked, trying to follow the quick change in subject. "Pack? What are you packing?"

"Some clothes, toiletries, and such to take to your place. As you pointed out, you do have an apartment, and it's far less likely one of your relatives would walk in on us during a moment of privacy than here right now. Come on, I'll let you pick out my lingerie," the honey brunette said with a wink.

Smirking, Jane rushed passed the other woman. "Why are we still standing here?"

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. I always appreciate reviews.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

"Jane, you okay?" Frost leaned back in his chair to regard his partner. "You seem… off today. I mean, I know its Mondays, and they suck. But you're off even for a Monday."

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just… I got a lot of stuff going on right now." Jane stopped tapping her pen. Dropping it to her desk, she stood up with a determined air, and made a motion for Frost to follow her lead. "Actually, I'm not okay, and I need to tell you something. You want to grab an early lunch?"

"Sure," came the guarded reply as Frost stood up to follow Jane out of the building.

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><p>As they sat down with their burgers at the diner just a few blocks from the station, Frost asked lightly, "Rough weekend or something?"<p>

"You could say that," came the quiet reply. Jane salted her fries and cut her burger as she spoke. "I told Ma something that really hurt her, and I'm not sure anyone else is going to like the news any better." She looked up at him, eyes hard as she added, "Including you."

Barry set his burger back down and gave his full attention to her. "You know, I _am_ your partner, Jane. You can talk to me."

"Yeah, well, there's a lot of stuff we still don't know about each other, Frost, and, honestly, I don't… Man, I don't even know where to start will all of this." She sighed, running a hand over her face.

Tilting his head and raising an eyebrow, he suggested, "How about the beginning?"

"I would, but I don't really know where this all started." At his questioning look, she cleared her throat. Jane glanced around the room as if looking for something to help her with her thoughts. As her eyes settled back on her partner, she asked quietly, "Frost, let me ask you a question. How do you really feel about Maura? I mean, I've seen how you look at her sometimes. Do you, you know, have a thing for her? Be honest."

The apparently abrupt subject change threw him, and he stared at her for a moment before he answered. "Why are you asking me that? Would you have a problem with it if I wanted to ask your best friend out on a date or something?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Well, yes and no." Before Barry could respond, she quickly answered. "Let me explain."

He leaned back, crossing his arms. "I'm all ears."

"Okay," she nodded to herself, pushing her plate full of food away from her and toward the middle of the table. "Look, I wouldn't have a problem with you dating my best friend if I didn't know for a fact that my best friend was currently dating someone. I mean, you're a great guy, Frost. I mean that."

Barry narrowed his eyes. "Maura's seeing someone?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"And that's the only reason you wouldn't be okay with me asking her out?" He leaned forward a little, keeping eye contact.

"Yes," again, she nodded.

He tilted his head. "And you'd be fine with me dating Maura otherwise?"

She sighed. "Right."

"And what does any of this have to do with your weekend and why you're so wound up today?" He asked, slightly irritated by the whole situation.

"Because," she answered, face going pale, "I'm the one dating her."

"You _what_?" Air knocked out of him, Frost gaped at his partner as he fell against the back of his seat.

"_I'm_ dating Maura." At his blank look, Jane kept explaining. "Maura and I are _dating_. As in, we are a _couple_. You know, like _girlfriends_?" When he didn't make a move to acknowledge her, she asked quietly, fear and worry lacing her voice, "Frost? Say something."

Slowly closing his dropped jaw, he regarded her with a wary eye. Finally, he asked, "What did Angela say?"

Jane nodded, more to herself than her partner. "She said that we're Catholic, and she needed time." She looked up at him, eyes pleading for him to be more okay with this information than her mother was. "What do you need?"

"A beer," he sighed.

"I guess that's better than wanting a new partner." Shaking her head, she sipped her water.

"Stop working with the best homicide detective on the force because she has good taste in women and better luck with them than I do? No way. This just means you've been holding out on me. Remember all those times I needed a wing man? You could have been backing me." Despite the obvious uncomfortable feelings he was having, there was light humor in his voice, and he winked at her.

Relieved, she chuckled. "Would it make you feel better if I told you that, before Maura, I didn't realize exactly how into women I was?"

"Maybe," he shrugged. "God, Jane, are you sure about this? I mean, you work with her every day, and you know how Kennedy was treated when she came out. Don't you think things are hard enough for Maura without her being even more of an… I'm sorry to say this …more of an outcast? And what about you? The guys already give you shit about being the only woman on homicide. You sure you want to deal with all of this on top of that?"

"I don't want to deal with any of it, Frost, but I don't have a choice. I can't change who it is I'm attracted to any more than you can change the color of your skin." Leaning back and crossing her arms, she frowned deeply. "I can't control this. I tried. I tried for _years_, and, the more I tried, the more I had to be with her _all the time_. Do you know what that's like? I mean, have you ever wanted to be around someone so badly that, when you weren't in the same room with them, you started to get antsy? There's something about her that I just need. I _need_ her, Frost, and not just in _that_ way, either. So, no, I don't want to deal with all the shit I'm going to get, and, no, I don't like all the shit Maura's going to get either, but neither one of us wants to hide, and we're both big girls. We'll deal."

"I hope you're right," he said, picking his burger back up.

"Me too," she said as she followed his lead. "So, you okay with this? I mean, really?"

"No," he shot back from behind his burger. "I was going to ask Maura out today, but now I can't now. You'll beat the shit out of me." He smirked.

"Damn straight," Jane said before popping a fry in her mouth.

"You haven't done anything straight since you drew that line with a ruler three months ago, and I think it's the straightest thing I've ever seen you do," Frost shot back, a twinkle in his eye.

Jane choked down her fry. "Fair enough," she said between coughs to clear her throat. After a few moments of more comfortable silence, she said quietly, "Thanks, Frost."

He nodded in response before flagging the server down for their ticket.

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><p><strong>Your reviews are loved like candy!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

"Rizzoli, where the hell have you and Frost been? Do you know what time it is?" Lieutenant Cavanaugh called across the room as both detectives plopped down at their desks.

"We took an early lunch, but we're not going anywhere now, sir. I realize it's 12:30. We probably should have told someone we were taking off early." She flinched, averting her eyes from her superior. "I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

"An early lunch? Since when do _you_ take an early lunch?" Crossing to stand next to their desks, Cavanaugh scowled down at the two of them. Frost glanced to Jane; his eyes asked her what he should say. Jane glanced to Frost; her eyes were pleading with him not to say anything. The lieutenant shook his head. "Never mind. You're lucky a case didn't come in while you two were MIA. Next time, you tell Sergeant Korsak before you decide to slip off. Got it?"

Frost cleared his throat. "Yeah, we … uh … we got it. We won't do that again, Lieutenant." With an apologetic look, he added, "Is there anything you need right now, sir?"

"No," Cavanaugh barked at him, "right now what I need is to talk to Rizzoli. I've been trying to find you for an hour now. You ever heard of answering your phone?" He turned to her.

Surprise and terror filled the senior detective's eyes as she pulled her phone from her belt clip and glanced at the screen. "Shit," she hissed as she saw the display. "I'm sorry, sir. It was on silent. I was trying to avoid Ma last night because Maura and I were," Barry clearing his throat caused her to abruptly stop talking. "Never mind. It won't happen again."

"My office." He turned on his heels and headed in that direction. "Now."

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><p>Jane quietly stepped into the lieutenant's office, closing the door behind her. At his head motion, she took a seat in the visitor's chair across from him, and she waited as he riffled through the papers on the desk between them. Finally, he pulled out a piece of paper and held it up for her to see. "You know what this is?"<p>

Slowly she took the paper and looked it over. It was an HR form, and, for a moment, she was confused as to why he had it and why it mattered. Finally, her eyes ran over what the form actually was and who had turned it it. "It's an 'In Case of Emergency' form," she said, mouth going dry. "Everyone has one," her voice was steady, eyes stone as she handed the paper back to her superior officer.

"Yeah, but not everyone has one with _your_ name as their ICE person, Rizzoli, and they sure as hell don't have you down as their significant other." He let the paper slide from his hands and fall to the desk top. "When were you planning on telling me about this?"

"It's a new development, actually," Jane replied as she mentally cursed Maura for doing this without telling her first. "Besides, I wasn't aware I needed your permission to date someone."

"My permission? You think that's what this is about." He snorted. "What you do and _who_ you do on your own time is no one's business but yours. As long as you come to work and do your job like you're supposed to, I don't care what the hell you do after hours, but," he leaned forward, one finger hitting the paper on his desk as he emphasized what he was saying, "dating someone you work with is dangerous, and, if I so much as _suspect_ that its going to cause a problem, you're out of here. Do you understand me?"

"I," she blinked, stammering over what to say as her brain processed it, "I don't think there would be a problem, sir. You know how professional she is, and you know how I feel about my jo..."

"I know how you feel about her, too," Cavanaugh broke in. "Hell, the whole precinct knows how you feel about her. Look," he leaned back in his chair, "I don't have a problem with two women dating each other. I do have a problem if the drama that goes along with it starts affecting my department."

"Seriously?" The jaw muscles in Jane's face flexed as she tried to hold back the retorts that wanted to pour out of her mouth. Taking in a deep breath, she closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten. "With all due respect Lieutenant, I don't think you shouldn't even _have_ that sheet of paper unless Maura was seriously hurt, so the fact that we're having this conversation is suspect, and, honestly, I don't really care if you're okay with me dating Maura or not. I'm _going_ to date Maura. That's just how it is. There's nothing in the code book that says we can't. If you're threatening me to keep my 'woman drama' out of the office, you're already barking up the wrong tree. Korsak has more drama with his dogs than I do with my girlfriend." Her breath hitched at the word 'girlfriend', but she continued on. "Unless you have something to tell me that relates to my job as I'm doing it right now," she said as she stood up, reaching down to take the paper still under his finger off of his desk, "I think we're done here, and I'm taking _this_," she pulled the paper up and off the desk, "back down to HR."

"What are you going to say, Rizzoli? HR was doing their job. Whenever two people who work on the same team put each other down as ICE, the commanding officer is notified. Plus, I need that for my files. No one here is doing anything they shouldn't." He glared at her, waiting for her to hand the paper back to him.

"Are we done here?" She chucked the paper back onto the top of the desk.

He nodded. "I said what needs to be said. You got issues with it, you know what to do."

With a grunt and a glare, she grumbled, "I'm out of here."

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><p>Jane stormed out of Cavanaugh's office, breezed past her partner and her ex-parnter, and headed for the elevators.<p>

"Where you going?" Korsak called out to her retreating form.

"The morgue. The company's better," she spat out just before she stepped into the elevators.

Korsak gave Frost a confused look. "What do you think just happened in there?"

"Man, I don't know," Frost said, shaking his head, "but I wouldn't want to be in her line of fire anytime soon."

The elder detective nodded his agreement. "You think we ought to warn Doctor Isles?"

"Nope," Barry said as he turned his attention back to his monitor. "I think the doc is probably the only one who could handle her right now."

"Yeah," Korsak agreed, following Frost's lead, "you're probably right."

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading, and more is still to come. Your reviews are appreciated.<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

"Maura!" Jane flew into the morgue, stride wide and voice full of venom. "Where are you?" She rounded the corner, making her way the the ME's office.

"What's happened?" Maura was calm as she watched the brooding detective come to a halt in front of her desk.

"Cavanaugh happened." Crossing her arms and scowling down at the honey brunette, the detective's face shut down, hiding her emotions as her voice came out in a suddenly quiet and calm fashion. The transition from angry to calm was eery. "I just walked out of his office after he showed me your ICE paperwork. You should have told me before you updated that form."

"Why would he have my ICE form?" Careful to not make a sudden move that would increase Jane's obvious anger and frustration, Maura mirrored the darker woman's demeanor. Calm and quiet, she managed to not show outwardly her sudden inward feelings of panic. "The only individuals to have that paperwork should be Human Resources."

"Yeah, well, Cavanaugh says that he gets a copy of all ICE forms for anyone on his team, and he had it, Maura. I saw it with my own eyes." Jane's jaw muscles flexed as she stopped talking to glare down the doctor. "He called me into his office to tell me that if you and I had drama that we needed to keep it out of here or he would pull me from homicide." Her demeanor shifted from calm to angry again, and she slammed the back of her left hand into the palm of her right to emphasize her words. "Pull. Me. From. Homicide." He eyes widened, breath coming faster. "_For being __**your **__girlfriend._"

Maura took in a slow deep breath. She willed her anger at the situation to remain at bay as she tried to gather all of the facts. "What did you tell him?" Despite the evenness of her tone, her eyes betrayed her fears at what Jane might have said.

"I basically told him to fuck off!" Jane ran a hand through her hair as she rolled her eyes. "Where does he get off telling me anything about my relationship with you? Like I told him, there's nothing on the books that says you and I can't date each other and work together."

"That _is_ true," Maura nodded slightly. "I'm very concerned as to how he came into contact with that paperwork. I'm not technically on is team."

"I'm concerned that you _changed_ that paperwork before telling me. Forget that he has it. Why didn't you warn me? I thought we agreed not to tell anyone until we'd told my brothers, Frost, and Korsak. You should have known that, as soon as anyone besides our friends knew, that it would be all _over_ the station." Shaking her head, Jane began to pace in the area in front of Maura's desk.

"Human Resources is obligated to maintain confidentiality," the smaller woman stood up slowly to make her way around her desk. "They've clearly broken protocol, and," she paused, a thought occurring to her. "Jane, are you upset that I've changed the paperwork for my emergency contact, upset that Lieutenant Cavanaugh knows and said something inappropriate about this situation, or upset _because_ others know outside of our circle of close friends?"

"I... what?" Jane stopped pacing. "Am I what?"

"Why, exactly, are you angry about all of this?" Maura crossed her arms, tilting her head to the side as she rephrased the question. "Are you angry because there is an HR leak, or are you angry because people know what's going on between us?"

"Really?" The detective rolled her eyes, sighing heavily. "No, Maura, I'm not upset because people know. I'm pissed because Cavanaugh threatened me about my relationship with you, which he had _no business_ doing, and I'm pissed because he wouldn't have known if HR hadn't decided to put their nose where it doesn't belong."

"So you _are_ upset that others know?" The doctor's face shut down, mouth turning down at the corners.

"What did I just say? I said that," Jane's face dropped as she finally understood what the other woman was asking. "Oh my God, Maura, no." She shook her head, voice going soft. "Sweetie, I'm not embarrassed by us. I promise. I'm just really pissed about how this went down. I don't like it when people try to tell me how to run my personal business, and I _really _don't like it when people threaten you."

Maura nodded, body relaxing. "I'm glad to hear that," she said. "Jane, I want to find the leak, but I don't want to cause a scene. I think that would end poorly for us."

"Yeah, you're probably right." The taller woman took the two steps needed to be in front of the other woman. "Maybe we should let it go?"

"No, I don't want to do that. I'd hate to think someone else was outed because of an HR leak, but I don't want to go in there angry, either. I'm just not sure what the best course of action is. If we do turn in Lieutenant Cavanaugh, we run the risk of increasing your job's difficulty level, but, if we don't, then we run the risk of this happening to someone else or other things happening to us." The doctor frowned. "I don't like this situation."

"Yeah, neither do I, but," Jane reached out to pull Maura into a hug, "I think this might be one time where being quiet would be better than causing a scene. He's not telling anyone else, and we've already agreed to be out once we've told the important people. You have to pick your battles, you know?"

"Perhaps," Maura wrapped her arms around the lithe form of her girlfriend, placing her head on Jane's shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you in advance. I didn't think this would happen, so I didn't see it as an issue. I should have told you."

"It's okay. I mean, yes, you should have told me, but I'm glad you changed it. I'm glad you trust me enough to be your emergency contact." Placing a kiss in the crown of curls before her, Jane pulled back. "I want to change mine, too. Is that okay?"

"Yes," Maura smiled gently, "That is more than okay."

"Good, when I turn in my ICE form this afternoon, I'm writing a dirty note on the back telling off whoever the prick is that outed us to Cavanaugh. You okay with that?"

Maura chuckled despite herself. "No, and I still feel we should take some kind of action, but I suppose I can't stop you."

"How about we think about it to really figure out what the best plan of action is here? If we're going to do something, I want to make sure it's the right something." Jane stepped back, reluctantly pulling away from Maura. "Fair?"

"Yes, I'm agreeable to that." The honey blonde smirked. "If you do write the letter, please do me one small favor."

Jane narrowed her eyes. "What?"

Maura's eyes twinkled with mischief. "Don't use crayons this time."

"Hey! It was all I had to write with! Geez, you write _one _complaint letter using crayons, and no one ever lets you live it down!" The detective snorted in mock frustration.

"Well, it was very colorful. I give you points for creativity. I've never seen a rainbow colored complaint letter before or after, but, this time, you may want to consider using a pen." Maura leaned over to lay a kiss on Jane's cheek. "See you tonight?"

"Yeah," Jane rolled her eyes as she turned to the door. "I'll there around 6 assuming nothing comes up," she said as she left.

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><p><strong>As always, your reviews are very much appreciated.<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

"Korsak, you got a sec?" Jane strolled into the bullpen, hands on hips as she waited her former partner stop watching whatever youtube clip was running on his screen.

He glanced to Frost, who shrugged, and then back to the woman waiting for him to reply. "Yeah, sure." Sensing she wanted to chat alone, Korsak stood up. "What's up?"

Jane looked at Frost. "That thing you and I talked bout at lunch? I'm taking him down to Maura's office to fill him before everyone leaves for the day. We'll be back in a few. You got this?"

"Thing at lunch?" At her look, Frost nodded, eyes lighting up as he picked up her line of thought, "Oh, right. Yeah, I got this."

"Maura's office? Something come up on a case?" Korsak followed Jane to the elevators.

The younger detective gave a snort. "Yeah, you could say that."

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><p>"Where's Doctor Isles?" Korsak looked around the medical examiner's office as Jane closed the door.<p>

"I'm pretty sure she's finishing up in the lab for the day," Jane shrugged as she pointed to the sitting area. "I think you better sit down for this one."

"Okay," with trepidation lacing his voice and caution on his face, Korsak sat down on the sofa while Jane took the chair. "You going to tell me what's going on here? Are you in trouble?"

Jane sighed. "It's complicated." She held up a hand to keep him from talking. "Korsak, I want you to hear this from me before the precinct grapevine gets to you. There's an HR leak and Cavanaugh knows; he's already threatened me, so I thought it'd probably be good for you to hear it straight from the source."

"Jane, what's going on?" Clearly concerned, he raised an eyebrow in question. "What do you mean 'it's complicated'? What does Cavanaugh know, and what HR leak? You're not making any sense."

"I know," she rolled her eyes, running a hand over her face. "I know I'm not. Just... I don't really know how to tell you this and..."

"Jane, Korsak, what are you doing in my office?" Maura strolled in, lab coat in hand and freshly showered. "Do you have questions on a case?"

"No, Maura, I was just trying to tell Korsak what was going on before he heard it through the precinct grapevine." Jane rolled her eyes.

"What is going on? With what?" Confused hazel eyes darted between the two detectives.

"With us, Maura," Jane's voice was tired as she spoke.

"Oh!" The doctor's eyes widened. "I hadn't realized you were going to do that on your own. I mean, I thought we'd discuss this with him together, Jane. You don't have to do this all alone."

"Do what alone?" Korsak was clearly becoming irritated with the amount of information he wasn't being told. "Someone going to tell me what's going on here?"

"Yeah, I am. Just hold on a second, okay?" The younger detective stood, pacing for a moment before stopping in front of the smaller woman. "I need to do this alone. Frankie and Tommy," she winced, "I think I'll need you there, but Korsak deserves for me to at least step up and tell him myself. Okay?"

Maura frowned, narrowing her eyes. "If you're sure?"

Jane's voice was quiet as she reached a reassuring hand out to place on the doctor's arm. "I'm sure. I'll meet you at home, okay? I just... I need to do this."

Nodding gently, Maura turned to pull her purse from her desk drawer and reached for her coat. "Call me if you need to. I'll keep my phone close by."

"Yeah," the taller woman nodded as she held the door open for the other woman. Once Maura had stepped out, Jane turned back to the still puzzled Korsak. "Listen, I don't know how to tell you this, and," she started to pace again, "frankly, Korsak, I wasn't really ready to tell everyone, but my hand's been forced here." She ran a hand over her mouth as she thought.

"What's this all about?" He stood up, stepping around the coffee table and to the side of the path Jane was wearing into the floor.

"It's about me and Maura. We're not in trouble, but we might start having problems soon." She stopped pacing to look at her former partner. "Vince," she rarely used his first name, and the fact she had coupled with the nervousness in her voice and fear in her face made the older man pay close attention. Whatever the issue was that was going on, it was clearly personal. "I... Maura and I," a growl escaped her throat. "Why is this so hard?"

She sighed, frustrated at her own insecurities. "Look," she glanced down at her hands, running a thumb over one perfectly centered scar, "Korsak, I'm dating Maura."

"Dating Maura? As in dating _dating_?" His eyes bulged slightly, voice shocked. "But those were just rumors, weren't they?"

"They were, and now they're not." Her eyes found an interesting spot on the carpet. "It's taken us, me and Maura, a long time to get here, but, now that we are, I wanted you to know the truth from me."

He grunted. "Who else knows?"

"We told Ma over the weekend. I told Frost at lunch, and, because of an HR leak, Cavanaugh knows." She shook her head, closing her eyes and trying to calm her nerves. "And we're telling my brothers soon, probably tonight."

Korsak was quiet for a time. He ran his fingers through his goatee as he looked at the woman standing, arms crossed and eyes averted, in front of him. His eyes watched her as if looking for an answer to a question he wasn't sure he even knew the words for. Finally, he cleared his throat and asked, "What HR leak?"

Jane glanced at him, face tense. "Maura changed her ICE form. She listed me as the POC and marked me down as her significant other. Someone in HR decided to pass it along to Cavanaugh."

Korsak nodded. "That what you two were talking about before you stormed out of his office today?"

"Yeah. He told me he didn't care who I was dating but, if I let me personal relationship drama get in the way of my work, he'd have me yanked from homicide."

"He can't do that!" The anger in Korsak's voice took Jane by surprise. "First of all, that's not his place, and, second of all, you and Doc Isles are a hell of a lot more professional than that. That's bullshit."

Giving a slight shrug, Jane finally made eye contact with him. "That's pretty much what I told him."

"So what are you going to do about it?" He took a step toward her.

"We don't know yet. There's a lot to think about, you know? I mean, if I turn him in and start an investigation into HR, it's going to make my life and probably Maura's life pretty crappy. It's hard enough trying to get respect around here as a female cop without adding even more reasons to give me hell, but Maura doesn't want to let this slide. She's afraid someone else will be outed if we don't take some kind of action. Honestly, I want to do something, too. You know how much I hate it when someone screws someone over, but," she shrugged, clearly exasperated by the situation, "I don't know. You have to pick your battles, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," he ran a hand through his hair, scratching at the back of his head. "Whatever you two decide to do, let me know. I'll support you either way."

"Really?" The tension in Jane's face lessened. "Does that mean you're okay with this?"

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised. I mean, I was your partner for a long time, Jane. I sort of suspected, but I wasn't going to say anything. I figured you'd tell me when you were ready, _if_ you were ever ready." He glanced around the office. "Maura, she's a good girl. If you two are happy, then who am I to judge?"

"I'd hug you, but, you know, I've got a reputation," Jane gave a weak smile. Chuckling quietly, she allowed him to give her a hug. "Thanks, Vince."

"None needed. You know I've got your back." He gave her a pat n the shoulder. "How'd your mother take the news?"

"She asked me to give her some time, but," she shrugged, "she didn't disown me or go off the deep end. I think she'll be okay eventually."

"Frost?"

"I think he's uncomfortable with it, but I think that's because he has a thing for Maura. I think that'll take some time, too." Jane rolled her necked, bones popping with a loud crack. "God, this is stressful."

"It'll get better." Korsak turned to the door, opening it. "It's getting late. Go be with your woman. If I were you, I wouldn't miss a second of being able to..."

"Whatever you're about to say, Korsak, I don't think I want to hear it." The younger detective shook her head.

"What? I was just going to say that I wouldn't miss a second of being able to spend time with her. Geez, what did you think I was going to say?" He followed her out to the elevators.

"Never mind," she mumbled as they stepped onto the elevator to go back to the bullpen, ignoring Korsak's smirk.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for staying with me on this. As always, your reviews are appreciated. <strong>


	7. Chapter 7

"Maura, no!" Jane squealed as she rolled across the king sized bed in the master bedroom. "Oh my God, stop!" She snorted, gasping for breath as she tried to get away from the smaller woman.

"Say it, Jane! Say it, or I'm not stopping." Maura followed the detective across the bed, continuing her tickle attack. "Say you think fencing is a sport."

"Never give up! Ahhhh! Oh God," another snort escaped before Jane found the edge of the bed and the extra blanket she kept there that she normally used as a sort of body pillow. Laying on her left side and wrapping her arms and a leg around the blanket, she held on tight against Maura's attack. "Never surrender!"

"Admit it, Jane. You think fencing is a sport." The smaller woman lay on her left side and wrapped around the lanky form of her girlfriend. Her left hand ran above Jane's head, holding onto Jane's left hand where it rested against the headboard. Maura's right hand snaked up Jane's side, searching for the most sensitive spot to attack as the doctor wrapped her legs around Jane's left leg. "Say. It."

"Coercion!" A husky voice croaked out between gasps and giggles.

"Yes," Maura agreed as she relentlessly continued to tickle the ordinarily well composed woman currently giggling and laughing under her touch.

"Okay! Alright, okay, just stop!" Jane's right hand finally caught Maura's and held it firmly. "Fencing is a sport, okay?"

"Thank you," came the smug reply as Maura relaxed against Jane simply holding the other woman.

"God, woman, you're like a pit bull."

They chuckled, taking time to enjoy the closeness of the moment. Finally, Jane rolled over. She scooted down until she could comfortably rest her head against Maura's chest and took in a deep breath. "We're going to have to tell Tommy and Frankie tonight. You know that, right?"

"Whatever you need, dear-heart. You know I'll do what I can. What do you need me to do tonight?"

Jane groaned. "I don't know. Just be there? They should be here in a few. I guess we should get up and get ready." She pulled away. "Your shirt is wrinkled."

"Well, rolling around on the bed while trying to get one's girlfriend to admit that fencing is, in fact, a sport has a tendency to do that." The doctor rolled back across the bed and slid from the side to stand. "I'm going to change out of my work clothes and freshen up. You have a few changes of clothes still in the guest room." She frowned. "I'm going to move those in here sometime during the week. But, for now, if you feel as though you need to change..."

"Thanks, sweetie. I think I'd rather stay in what I'm wearing. Somehow, being in my work clothes sort of feels right, you know?" Jane stood, retucking her shirt where it had come untucked and straightening her clothes. "I'll be in the kitchen, okay?"

Maura gave a nod before heading to the master bathroom. "Of course. I'll be out in just a moment."

* * *

><p>Jane poured a glass of water for herself. She slowly sipped it, shaking the glass to settle the ice as she leaned against the cabinet. At the sound of the front door opening, she froze. Her eyes zeroed in on the entryway as she waited to see which of her brothers had just come in.<p>

Angela's face both surprised the detective and shook her out of her moment of focus. "Ma! What are you doing here?"

"I live here," the elder Rizzoli answered as she made her way through the house. "I don't guess I need to ask you what you're doing here," she commented as she passed the kitchen.

"I don't know if I should be hurt by that or not."Jane set her glass down on the island as she went to head her mother off at the back door. "Hey, come on, Ma. Cut me some slack here."

"Cut you some slack. What kind of slack do you want, Jane?" Angela stopped trying to get by her daughter. It had been four days since she had been told about her daughter's relationship with Maura, and she hadn't said more than a few sentences to either woman since. It was the longest amount time Jane could ever remember where Angela hadn't said anything to her daughter.

"I... I don't know. I just want you to talk to me. I know you said you needed some time, but," her daughter sighed, frowning deeply, "some things have happened, and I really need to know where you're going to fall on this. If you're going to disown me or hate me or whatever, I need to know because the shit hit the fan at work today, and it's all about to roll downhill."

Angela's jaw flexed as she narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "What happened at work?"

"Maura changed her ICE form. I'm her POC now, marked as her significant other, and HR leaked it to Cavanaugh." Jane was quickly getting tired repeating the same story. "He threatened me, saying that, if my and Maura's relationship got out of hand and started affecting our work, he'd yank me from the team. Needless to say, it's just a matter of time before everyone knows. I told Frost and Korsak today, and I'm waiting on Tommy and Frankie to get here." She rolled her eyes. "I thought you were them."

"Wait a minute," with a tilt of her head, her mother's demeanor changed, going from brooding to angry in a moment's thought. "Are you telling me that someone in HR _outed_ you?"

"Yeah," Jane nodded. She frowned, looking down at the floor as she spoke. "We don't know who, and Maura and I are trying to decide what we want to do about it. But... yeah, I'm sorry, Ma. I know you probably weren't ready for everyone to know." She signed heavily. "I know I wasn't."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Angela's voice was dark with her anger. "I'm not the one that's being hurt here. _You and Maura_ are." Reaching a hand out to place it on her daughter's shoulder, her voice softened slightly, "I told you I needed time, Jane. I didn't say I was going to disown you. You're my _child_. I love you, and I'm not going to disown you. I don't agree with everything, but I've been doing some reading, and I've been talking to some people." She gave the shoulder in her hand a squeeze. "I'm _learning_. Do you want me to try to find out who it was in HR? I have a few connections."

Jane's eyes quickly flicked up to meet her mother's. "Really?"

"I'm not going to let someone do this and get away with it. It's not right, Jane. You should have been able to do this at your own pace." Angela stopped talking as she tried to find the right words. "I _am _here for you, Jane. I just have to figure out how to deal with this new part of you, but I _will_ get there because you _are_ my child. Right now, you're hurting, and you know how I feel when people are hurting my family."

Her daughter gave a weak nod. "Thanks, Ma. That... that really means a lot. But I don't want you digging around in HR. At least, not yet. Maura and I want to talk about it, and we haven't been able to yet. And," she glanced toward the clock on the wall, "Tommy and Frankie will be here soon."

"Do you want me to stay here while you talk to them?" Angela offered, the hurt in her eyes offset by the concern in her voice.

"No. Maura's here, and I don't think it'll be any easier if you were here. I mean, it's like you said. You're still trying to deal with all of this. I don't want to make things harder on you."

"You know where I'll be," the older woman offered as she opened the back door.

Jane nodded before turning back to the kitchen to find Maura watching her.

"How much did you hear?"

Maura tilted her head in thought, "Most of it. I walked in while you were retelling the story regarding HR." She frowned. "At least she's trying."

"Yeah, I just hope that Tommy and Frankie try, too," the detective said as she walked over to wrap her arms around the doctor. "Can we do this?"

"We can but try," Maura replied before placing a gentle kiss on Jane's lips. "The boys just pulled up."

"Yeah, Tommy needs to fix his muffler," Jane muttered as she reluctantly pulled away to get ready to face her brothers.

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><p><strong>Thanks for continuing to read. Your reviews are loved<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

"Yo, Janie, we're here!" Frankie walked into the main living space of Maura's home followed closely by Tommy. "What's so important that we had to rush over here?"

"Yeah! You _do_ know that I worked a double today, right?" Tommy passed by both women on his way to grab a cold beer for his brother and a cold soda for himself. "Hey, Maura."

"Hello, Tommy. You're," the doctor tried – and failed – not to scrunch her nose up in slight disgust, "very greasy."

"I had to roll around on the ground today. Low man on the totem pole has to do all the crap things on the job. You know how it goes." The youngest Rizzoli handed the beer to his brother before popping the top off of his own drink. "I promise not to touch anything or sit down. I know how you are about things being clean."

"Yes... thank you," Maura gave an uneasy nod.

"No problem. I would've taken a shower before I came over, but Janie sounded like someone had died or something, so I figured Frankie and I should probably head over as soon as we were off." Tommy shrugged and turned to his sister. "Anyway, what's up?"

"I know that you two like to get stuff on me to hold against me later, but I'm about to tell you something that you need to know because it's about to fly through the station quicker than Ma's sausage flies through Frankie," with a smirk, Jane nodded toward Frankie as Tommy tried not to spew his soda. "And I need you two to act like I'm a person and not just your sister because this info affects more than just me, okay?"

"Is this about whatever happened with you and Cavanaugh today?" Choosing to ignore the dig he'd just gotten, Frankie leaned against the island and casually sipped his beer. "Word is you came out of his office looking pretty pissed off."

"Actually, yeah, it is about that." Jane ran a hand across the back of her neck as she looked toward Maura who simply nodded to show her support.

"You get written up or something?" Tommy smirked, "Cuz, if you did and you need a few pointers on how to get off the hook for good behavior..."

"No, I didn't get written up," the eldest Rizzoli child made an angry wave of her hand as if brushing off the idiotic comments made by her siblings. "I just... okay, look, there's just no good way to say this, and I've already told Ma, Frost, and Korsak, so you two are going to find out one way or another pretty soon anyway." She took in a quick breath to cut the two men off from saying anything. "I'm dating Maura."

Two pairs of stunned eyes went from their sister to the shorter woman standing by her side.

"_That_ is true," Maura nodded, face calmly neutral. "It is a new development in our relationship, but we felt as though those of you closest to us should hear this news directly from us as opposed to through some other, less reliable, means."

"What did Ma say," Frankie asked, shifting his weight as he continued to sip on his beer.

"Ma said she needed time," his sister replied, "but she said she still loved me. All things considered, she took the news pretty well."

"You told Pop?" Tommy asked. Unlike Frankie's face, which had taken on the cop mask most law enforcement professionals had, his face was a clash of emotions – anger, surprise, jealousy, hurt, resignation.

"No, I haven't told him yet, but you know he's somewhere in Florida with his girlfriend," Jane paused as if saying the sentence was enough to make her want to gargle to get the feel of the thought off of her. "It's hard to find him, and I don't really think he's got a lot of room to talk about anything anyway."

"Why?" Frankie's voice was steady but his eyes were angry.

"I don't understand the question, Frankie. Why what?" Jane looked to Maura for help, but the doctor only shrugged. "Why am I not bothering to tell Pop? Why am I dating Maura? Why..."

He cut her off. "Why do you think you're a lesbian?"

"I never said I was," she quickly countered.

"Okay," Frankie slowly set his beer down on the island but his eyes never left his sister's. Despite the cool even tone of his voice, the tension was starting to turn thick in the air. "Are you bi? Are you a dude trapped in a woman's body? What? What _are_ you?"

"I'm... I'm," with uncharacteristic hesitation, Jane stuttered to answer the question. Her eyes ran around the room finally settling on Maura.

"Jane," the honey brunette's voice was soft but firm. "You don't have to."

"No, Maura, I really do. They're not the first and they won't be the last, and, if I'm going to do this... if _we're_ going to do this, it's better if I just bite it." The detective swallowed down the lump in her throat.

She ran a hand across her face as her dark brown eyes darted between her brothers. They waited, one calmly and one with a myriad of emotions dancing across his face. Finally, she took in a deep breath and answered. "I'm a lesbian, Frankie."

"Why didn't you two tell us or at least tell me?" Tommy's outburst of anger shook everyone in the room. "You had me make a fool out of myself thinking I could date you," he turned toward the doctor. "I thought we had something! I would _never _have bothered if I'd know you were into chicks. I bet you had a good laugh at me, didn't you?"

Maura tried to break in and object, but Tommy's anger overrode any chance she had to get a word in. "I bet you thought it was funny to string the screw-up, ex-con Rizzoli around. What was it? Huh? Was it some kind of bet? Did you and Janie have some sort of sick, twisted inside joke going on about how long you could string me along?"

Tears began to form in Maura's eyes as he jaw tightened with unspoken words of defense. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Jane broke into Tommy's tirade. "That's enough, Tommy!" She stepped between her youngest brother and her girlfriend. "Maura wasn't stringing you along, and you know it. Stop being pissy because you didn't get the girl."

"Really? And why should I take _your_ word for it, huh? I mean, I think it's pretty clear that you were in on it, too. Man, I can't even," Tommy took in a deep breath. "You know what? Fuck you both."

"Hey!" Jane snapped back, "Watch your..."

"All you had to do," Tommy snapped back, "was tell me that you were into her, Jane. All you had to do was _tell me_ that she was into chicks or at least into _you_, and I would have backed off. You _made_ me look like an idiot. What the hell? _What the fucking h__ell ?_"

Again, Maura started to say something, but Jane placed a hand on her arm to silence her. With more gentleness in her voice, she answered her brother. "I didn't know, Tommy. Okay? I didn't know. I didn't know that Maura felt _that way_ about me, and I didn't know that I felt like that way about her. I _didn't know_."

"How could you _not _know? That's the lamest thing I've ever heard. What a bunch of bullshit." Tommy tossed his empty can into the bin under Maura's sink. It made an angry thunking noise as it landed with the other empty and smashed cans in the darkened bin. "I know you can do better than that."

"No, I really can't," Jane's voice was tired. "I didn't know, Tommy. I swear to God that I didn't." She glanced to Frankie, who remained unchanged as he watched his siblings. She sighed and turned back to her youngest brother. "I didn't know because I didn't _want_ to know. Knowing meant that I'd have to admit that I was _that way_. That I was... That I like," she gave a heavy sigh. "That I _am_ a lesbian, and I just wasn't ready to deal with all the crap that meant."

Her eyes pleaded with her brothers to be okay with this new information as she continued to explain. "Besides the fact that I didn't want to admit that I'm attracted to women, there was also the fact that Maura is way out of my league. I mean, admit it, you think she's totally out of league, too, right?"

"Jane, we've talked about this. You know I don't care how much money your family does or doesn't have," Maura cut in, her voice holding a hint of hurt at the insinuation that the amount of money in the Rizzoli family made a difference in how she regarded the people within the family.

"Yeah, I know, Maura, but I need Tommy and Frankie to understand. Just... just wait a minute, okay? Let me do this my way." Jane gave the doctor a look that begged her to keep quiet. In response, Maura nodded her agreement.

"Tommy, you know what I'm talking about," she turned back to her brother. "Why would someone like Maura even _consider _the idea of dating someone like me, right?" He gave a short nod. Jane took it as a sign that he followed her line of thought. "So between not wanting to admit who I was _actually_ attracted to and the thought that I had a snowball's chance in hell with Maura anyway, it was easy for me not to know. You follow?"

"Maybe," he answered quietly.

"So what happened that made the rest of it happened?" Frankie's voice held an edge of irritation to it.

"Maura came over last Thursday night, and she was was pretty upset," Jane looked to Maura to help tell the story.

"It was approximately 10:30 at night, and I had gone to bed early. As you know, Frankie, last week was very stressful. The case load was unusually high," Maura continued the story with ease. "After finishing my paperwork for the evening, I decided to try to get some extra rest, so I went to bed around 9 that night. Unfortunately, I didn't get the rest I'd have liked. I had one of the worst dreams that I can recall." She stepped closer to Jane. "Jane and I were, again, at the mercy of Hoyt. Instead of Jane being able to save us both, he was able to do what he liked with us. The dream was incredibly vivid, and I can't recall another dream where I can callback to mind the actual sensations of everything that happened." She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. "It's amazing what the mind can produce just based on information one may have acquired from research, observation, and small amounts of firsthand experience." Her voice darkened even as it became quieter. "Rape and torture are very horrid things."

Jane moved to put an arm around the smaller woman, but she stopped in mid-motion as her eye caught Tommy's. Shaking her head and mentally chastising herself, she moved again, wrapping an arm around Maura and pulling her close. "You didn't have to tell what was in your dream, Maura," she whispered.

"No, I did. As you said, Jane, they need to know." Maura looked between the men. "I woke up around 10, and I had to see Jane. I had to know she was fine, that she wasn't hurt. All the near death moments in our lives over the past two years raced through my mind as I drove to Jane's apartment, and I realized as I walked up the stairs to her door that it was imperative that I tell her _exactly_ how I felt about her because the next time she was in peril, or I was, may be the last." She took in a breath to steady herself. "I needed for her to know."

Jane cleared her throat and continued on with the story. "When I opened the door, Maura looked liked she had seen a ghost. I figured whatever was eating at her was important, so I pulled her inside. Before I could ask her what was wrong, she was kissing me."

Rolling her eyes, the detective gave a chuckle despite herself. "I figured I was either dreaming or I'd finally taken one too many hits to the head." When neither man gave a hint of amusement, Jane sobered from her moment of amusement and continued on. "I honestly thought I'd lost it for a couple of seconds, but then I figured that, if I was going to loose it, there were worse ways, and I just went with it. One thing lead to another, and the next morning Maura was still there. That's when I knew I wasn't crazy. She was _still_ there, and I decided right then that I wasn't going to turn away from this. If we actually shared the same feelings for each other, then I wasn't going to screw it up by continuing to not admit that I was attracted her. I mean," she nodded toward the other woman, "would either of you walk away from her?"

"No," Tommy shook his head, "I'd fight like hell to have her." His dark gaze went from his sister to the doctor. "If I thought I'd have a chance, Maura, I'd still give it a try." He let out a grunt of frustration. "I still say you could have told me."

"If I'd known, Tommy..." Jane gave him an apologetic look.

"It's a sin, Jane. How are you going to deal with that? I mean, the church is going to excommunicate you." Frankie walked across the kitchen toward the end leading to the front door. "Is that why you haven't been going to church?"

"I haven't been going to church because I'm lazy and like to sleep in on Sunday mornings," she answered honestly. "Ma said pretty much the same thing, and, honestly, I don't think I care if they do excommunicate me. There are other churches out there that _will_ accept as I am, and, frankly, my relationship with God is no one's business but mine and God's."

"I don't know how I feel about all of this," Frankie made a vague motion with his hand. "I always kind of wondered, but you always said you weren't. Now you're telling me that you are, and," he shook his head, "I don't know, sis. Why are you telling us this right now anyway?"

* * *

><p>Jane relayed the story regarding Cavanaugh and HR to her brothers who listened with apparent anger regarding the situation. "That's messed up," Frankie said at the end of the story. "Where does he think he gets off? I mean, it's one thing to not be okay with you liking chicks because it's against his religion or whatever, but it's something else for him to threaten your job because you're dating Maura. No one threatened Bobby Jenkins when he started dating Amy Yearwood two months ago, and their drama is a thousand times worse than anything you and Maura have ever put out there."<p>

Tommy nodded, adding, "Cavanaugh can suck my..."

"Tommy!" Jane pointed at her brother, "What did I say about watching your language in front of Maura?"

"It wouldn't be the first time I've heard someone say that phrase, Jane," Maura commented lightly, a smile playing on her face, "Although, based on the lieutenant's reaction to the news of our current relationship, I doubt he would enjoy the activity Tommy is suggesting."

"He better not try to... wait... Did you just crack a joke?" Tommy blinked back his anger as surprised cut in.

"Perhaps," Maura said as she made her way past him to the refrigerator. "It has been known to happen," she answered as she pulled out a bottle of water.

Choosing to ignore the banter, Jane kept to the business at hand. "Okay, now that you two know everything that's going on, are you okay with this or not?"

"No, but give me a little bit." Frankie grimaced at his own words. "I want to be okay with this. I don't want to think I'm one of those people that hates people for stuff they can't control, you know? But you're my sister, and I just... I'll let you know if I hear anything about the HR leak, but give me a little time to deal with all of this. I'm not completely _not_ okay with it, but I just... I just don't know."

"Fair enough," Jane nodded and turned to her youngest brother. "What about you?"

"Yeah, it's fine by me. I get it; you love who you love, but I hate that I lost to you... _again._" Tommy rolled his eyes and growled, "Story of my life."

"Thanks," Jane checked her watch. "It's late, and we have to get to work tomorrow. Tommy, you've got to be tired. I know what it's like to pull a double."

"Yeah, I could use some rest." He pulled his car keys out. "Come on, Frankie, let's get out of here. Burgers?"

"You buying?" Frankie pulled his coat back on as he stepped toward his sister.

"Yeah, but only this time," Tommy was already at the door. Sensing that his two older siblings needed a moment, he yelled, "See you at the car. Later Janie, Maura," before letting the door close behind him.

"Jane, I'm going to step into my bedroom for a bit," Maura said quietly before heading off in the direction of the master bedroom to leave the two Rizzolis alone.

"You hate me?" Jane asked once she and Frankie were alone.

"No, I don't hate you, sis. I just don't know how to handle you right now." He finished shrugging his coat on.

"I'm the same person, Frankie. I still like to do all the things I've always liked to do. I still hate all the same people I've always hated," she winked at his chuckle. "Nothing's changed except who I'm dating. Why is that so hard to deal with?"

"I don't know," he shook he head, face sadden by his own shortcomings. "I wish I did. I think, maybe, I'm just surprised you actually admitted it or something. But, I don't hate you, Jane, and I still have your back, okay?"

"Yeah?" Her voice cracked.

"Yeah. We're family. Family sticks together... unless you're Pop, but you know what I think about that." She nodded. Frankie cleared his throat. "Listen, I'm sort of like Ma. Just give me some time, and, for the love of God, don't let me walk in on you two. Oh man, I don't think I could handle seeing your pasty white ass mooning me while you're..."

Jane held her hand up, "Okay, yeah, I got it. We'll stick to the bedroom with the door locked." They laughed. "We're good?"

"Yeah," Frankie gave a weak smile, "We're good."

* * *

><p>"What did Frankie say?" Maura asked as Jane stepped into the bedroom.<p>

"Give him some time, he doesn't hate me, he'll let me know if he hears anything about the HR leak that could be useful, he still has my back, and he doesn't want to walk in on us in the middle of something intimate." Jane plopped down on the bed and began to pull her shoes off. "At least no one's flat out disowned me."

"Yes, that _is _a positive in this situation." Maura moved to the side of the bed and reached down to bat Jane's hands away and remove the detective's boots for her. "I will have to tell my mother soon."

"What about your dad?" Jane grunted as her boots came off with an almost audible pop.

"Yes, him as well, but Mother is the one I'll need to tell first. She will be in Tulsa, Oklahoma for a convention on Alzheimer's research in a few days. I plan to call her when she's there and discuss everything with her." Maura set the boots under her bed and began to help Jane pull off the rest of her clothes to prepare for bed. "Mother has always been liberal minded, as has Father. I don't think they'll care about your gender and, now that Mother has actually met you and seen how you act around me and toward me, I don't believe they'll have issues with me dating you."

As Jane pulled off her clothes, Maura hung up the pieces of her suit. "I'll let you know how the conversation goes. In the meantime," she said as she hung Jane's suit in her closet, "I've run a bath. Care to join me?"

"Best idea I've heard all day," Jane answered with a smile. "Come on, I'll wash your hair."

"Oh," Maura practically purred as they walked to the master bathroom, "that sounds lovely."

* * *

><p><strong>As always, thank you for reading, and please leave a comment if you can. I'm very curious as to what everyone thinks about the family's reactions so far.<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

"Touch!" Jane's finger tapped the screen of Maura's phone as the doctor held it up to try and answer the incoming text message.

"Jane! I'm trying to answer her. Stop it." Maura brushed away the intruding hand and leaned further away from the driver's side of the car as the detective leaned over further while keeping an eye on the red light. "I mean it!"

"But," the dark haired woman pouted, "you've been texting with her for two hours." She glanced back to the still red light. "Touch," she quipped as she again touched the phone's screen causing what Maura was typing out to scramble to some unintelligible mess of letters. "Who are talking to anyway? Is that your Googlemouth Girlfriend?"

Maura shot the driver an annoyed look. "Why do you insist on calling her that? You know her name is Valerie Gonzales."

"Yeah, _Doctor_ Val Gonzales," Jane nodded and turned her eyes back to the road as the light changed. "As in the _other_ Googlemouth. Listening to you two talk is better than a wikiwalk." She snorted at her own joke.

"You know she's not my girlfriend; you are," the honey brunette mumbled as she finished her text and hit the send button.

"Googlemouth Girlfriend," dark curls bounced as Jane nodded her head. "Got it."

"Some days I'm positive you test my patience on purpose," Maura said, voice light despite the chastisement. "You know Val is one of the few people I can talk with regarding my profession, most of my interests, and you without worrying about negative repercussions."

"Sweetie, Val's your best friend," Jane rolled her eyes when she caught Maura's negative reaction. "Outside of _me_, Val's your best friend," Maura begrudgingly nodded in the affirmative. "And you two have a lot in common. I think it's cool you found someone you can talk to about all that stuff that goes totally over my head. I just wish you'd do it a little less when you're in the car with me, and we're driving through a redneck state trusting that the GPS isn't steering us into a den of hillbillies waiting to assault the first Yankee to dare step on their hallowed Confederate ground. I trust your brain and a map more than I trust this thing." She pointed to the display screen on the dash of their rental car.

"There are so many things incorrect with what you just said that I'm not certain where to begin," the doctor set her phone in her lap and turned more toward the driver's side. "First of all, I know you understand more of what I say than you claim to. I don't understand why you don't acknowledge your intellect, Jane. Second of all, we both know the GPS works perfectly fine. We had no problems making it from the airport to our hotel last night. I also can't believe you'd call Oklahoma a 'redneck state' when you know as well as I do that this area was once referred to as Indian Territory. I'd hardly associate it with the stereotype of a 'redneck', and, speaking of stereotypes, rednecks and hillbillies aren't the same kind of stereotype though they are under the same umbrella. Though there are Confederate roots here in this state, I hardly think 'hallowed ground' is an apt description for it. In fact, I'm not even certain why..."

"I like to get a rise out of you. It's fun to get you started and watch you roll," the detective interrupted, a smirk on her face.

Maura rolled her eyes. "Really, Jane?"

"I'm not really _that_ prejudice, Maura. I payed attention in history class. I just like to see what you'll say when I say something I know is totally wrong." The detective pulled the car into the parking lot of what appeared to be one of the nicer hotels in the area. "Besides, pestering you helps me calm down. I'm nervous as hell about meeting your mother face-to-face right now. Are you sure we had to fly all the way down here to tell her about us?"

"We told your family in person. I feel it is only fair we give mine the same courtesy, and Mother's schedule is very tight right now. It was easier for us to take time off and fly here than wait for her to find time to fly to Boston." Maura sighed heavily. "The Alzheimer's conference should be over by now. Today was only a half day. Mother said she would be here until tomorrow morning, so she should be in the room and expecting us."

"Does she know something's up?" Jane pulled in and parked near the front entrance to the hotel. "I mean, it's got to seem a little weird that her daughter and daughter's best friend suddenly decided they_both_needed to see her _right now_, right?" She hopped out and walked around to help the other woman out of the car.

"She was less than pleased that I wasn't very forthcoming with why we needed to see her on such short notice but intrigued enough to agree to the meeting." Stopping to brush the wrinkles from her skirt and check her clothing, Maura frowned deeply. "I'm glad we've taken the week off. If this doesn't go well, I have plans for us to take the rest of our vacation time in a different state to take our minds off the confrontation."

Jane stopped and turned to the smaller woman, eyebrow raised. "Yeah? Where's that?"

"Texas. I thought it'd be nice to visit Dallas while we're here. The first Macy's in existence is located in Downtown Dallas. I've never been, and I'd very much like to go while we're in the area."

"You're kidding? No... don't answer that. I know you're not kidding. I assume that we're going either way, right?" Jane started walking again, keeping pace with Maura's smaller strides.

Lowering her head, the doctor asked rather sheepishly, "You don't mind?"

"If I did, then I'm dating the wrong girl," Jane said as she opened the door for the smaller woman and ignored the shocked look of the young man walking past them on his way out. "You ready for this?"

"No," Maura answered truthfully, "but it must be done."

* * *

><p>Seated in the small sitting area of the suite Constance Isles had booked for her time in Tulsa, Jane and Maura tried not to fidget as the elder Isles took her seat across from them in the arm chair that so perfectly matched the loveseat they occupied. As she settled gracefully into the wing-back chair, she regarded her daughter with a cautious eye. "Maura, darling, what has happened that you and Jane needed to fly all the way down here to see me?"<p>

Maura sat tight lipped for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. Jane sat quietly and watched, face and body tense. Finally, the young doctor spoke, trying to maintain an air of confidence despite her feelings of trepidation. "Mother, something's changed recently that I feel you need to know, and it is important enough that I much rather tell you in person than over the phone."

"I see," Constance nodded for her daughter to continue.

The honey brunette shifted uncomfortably but managed to maintain eye contact with her mother. "This has to do with me and," she glanced to the woman next to her, "with Jane."

Tilting her head and raising an eyebrow, Constance asked with some concern, "Are you two in some sort of trouble?"

"No, at least," Maura gave her mother an apologetic look, "not in the sense I believe you mean. Mother, Jane and I are involved."

"Romantically?"

Maura could hear the audible gulp from Jane at Constance's very coolly asked question. "Yes, Mother, romantically."

"For how long?"

Another coolly asked question and another gulp from the detective as Maura answered as best she could. "Not long, just a few weeks, but an incident at the precinct regarding an HR leak a threat to Jane's job due to our new relationship statues has caused us to run our time line quickly forward regarding how open we are with our relationship."

The elder Isles leaned back in her chair as she looked over the young women in the loveseat. Clearly lost in thought, she made no move to say anything or indicate how she felt about this new piece of information for several very long moments.

As the couple waited to see what would happen next, the detective tried not to let her growing agitation get the best of her while the doctor became increasingly more frigid in posture and still in poise. Finally, Constance took in a deep breath, readying herself to tell them what conclusion she'd come to.

"You are not who I would have chosen for my daughter to date, Detective, but, then again, who I would have chosen turned out to be a murder," she tilted her head to the side, much as her daughter did when working through a puzzling thought. "I suppose that speaks volumes for my ability to choose a proper partner for Maura." Her mouth turned up ever so slightly at the corners. "However, from what I've observed, you're a good person who adores my daughter, and, in the end, that's really what matters so long as you make her happy." She turned to Maura, eyes gentle, "Are you happy?"

"Yes, very much so," Maura gave a small smile, a blush coloring her cheeks as she looked to Jane. "She's very good to me, Mother."

"Yes, I know. I could tell from the moment she confronted me at the in gallery opening to tell me she didn't like to see her friends hurt." Constance smiled, "You're very protective yet unpredictable and fearless, Jane. It's a good thing. I feel Maura needs someone like you in her life for balance."

Jane blinked as she processed. "Thanks?"

"You're welcome." Constance sighed. "Where are you two off to now, or will you be going back to Boston this evening?"

"We are going to Dallas," Maura smiled excitedly.

"To Macy's?" Her mother returned the smile.

"Yes! I'm very excited, Mother. I hear the department store is simply charming. We fly into DFW this evening."

Constance nodded her approval. "What hotel will you staying at while you're there?"

"The Adolfus. We've taken the rest of the week off, and I think it will be a great experience. We've never spent much time in the southwestern part of the States, as you know. I think it will be a great experience." Maura was practically giddy.

"That is very true, and believe you'll have an enjoyable time." Her mother checked her watch. "It's getting late, and I assume you two will need to leave soon?"

"Oh, yes, you're right," Maura stood, motioning for Jane to follow. "Thank you, Mother," she whispered as she gave the older woman a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Just promise me you'll give her proper instruction before the annual Ball." She turned to Jane, "If you're to date my daughter, I hope you realized that you have commitments and responsibilities. You're not simply dating Maura, Jane. You're also representing our family because you _will_ be expected to attend functions."

"Yeah, I kind of figured," Jane winced. "I promise I'll try to not embarrass any of you."

Constance nodded. "That is, I suppose, all that I can ask. Now, off with the both of you before you miss your flight."

"Goodbye Mother; I'll text you as soon as we land," Maura's smiled beamed.

"Goodbye, Mrs. Isles, and thanks," Jane moved awkwardly, unsure of how to say goodbye.

Constance answered by giving the lanky woman a curt nod and gentle pat on the arm. "Of course."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for continuing to read this story. I appreciate your reviews.<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

Sitting in Maura's living room, Jane flipped open her laptop and started working on her paperwork. After their last minute trip out of state, Jane had found it hard to get back into the groove. On top of that, she was paranoid about messing up and giving Cavanaugh an excuse to come down on her. So, despite her reluctance to do so, Jane was trying hard to stay caught up on everything her job threw her way.

A gentle _meep_ sounded from across the room where Maura was sitting. Book in hand, her eyes were on the detective as her face took on a pout. Jane tried to ignore it as she worked on.

"Meep?" Maura's voice held the chord of a question.

"I'm _working_, sweetie. Just give me a few, okay?" Jane tried to hold off the smile that pulled at the corners of her mouth.

"Meep." Maura's voice, though still quiet, held in it the sound of frustration, and, still, she pouted.

Dark brown eyes tensed a little. "Look, you know I have to stay on this. Until we figure out what to do with the HR thing and Cavanaugh, I really can't be behind on stuff. It'll only take about an hour. Why don't you finish the book you've got, or watch tv, or whatever it is you do when I'm _working_ and you're not?"

"Meep." Maura's voice sounded sad and rejected as she slowly opened the book in her hands.

"That's not fair, Maura. I'm trying to," Jane looked up to see the dejected look on the other woman's face. "Really?"

"Meep." Maura's voice sounded resigned as she frowned deeply while staring at the pages in front of her.

"Man," Jane grunted as she slowly placed her laptop on the coffee table. "You're spoiled; you know that?"

"Meep." Maura's voice sounded offended.

"Okay, that's it!" With a battle cry, Jane lunged from the sofa and onto the chair where Maura was curled. Tossing the book aside, the detective trapped the doctor's hands in her own as she fiercely kissed the smaller woman. "If you want attention, sweetie, you could just ask."

A grin spread across the honey blonde's face. "It's not as much fun." She sighed. "I know you need to finish what you're doing. I just needed a little acknowledgement."

"It's fine, but I'm going to go back now, okay?" Hesitantly, Jane stood back up to return to her spot on the sofa. "I promise I won't be long."

Maura shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "Meep," she said, voice full of doubt.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Funny."

* * *

><p>"Rizzoli! Get your ass in here!" Cavanaugh's voice rang out over the bullpen.<p>

All eyes settled on the lanky female detective as she slowly stood and made her way to the lieutenant's office. Following his silent direction, she stepped inside the small room and closed the door behind her. "Yes, sir?"

"This your report?" He handed her a sheet of paper.

She glanced at it for a moment, looking for anything that was out of place. Not finding anything, she nodded as she handed it back to him. "Yeah, I filed it this morning." She crossed her arms and waited.

"It reads like a freaking encyclopedia." He tossed the page on top of the stack of papers already on his desk. "100 words where _10 _will do. When did you start trying to write books for reports?"

"It's a touchy case. I was trying to be as accurate as possible so the defense couldn't poke any holes in it." She shifted her weight as she tried to control her temper. "You _told_ me to make sure the report was as watertight as the case. I was only following orders."

"Yeah, I told you to write up a strong report. I didn't _tell_ you to write War and Peace." He snorted. "Is this how you're going to be?"

"What?" Jane blinked at him, clearly confused. "How I'm going to be about what?"

"You're dating Doctor Isles, so now you have to show everyone up by using four dollar words?" He leaned back in his chair. Pointing to the report in question, he glared at her. "Trying to prove you're smart enough, Rizzoli, because, if you are, you can stop it now. No one needs you showing off on something just because you can."

"Try to prove… I'm not _even_… How _dare_… _Where_ do _you_," with each sentence she started to say, her anger multiplied. After starting and stopping a number of times as she tried to not yell at her boss, she finally lost her internal battle. "You know what? You can fuck off! This is bullshit!"

"Watch yourself, Rizzoli," Cavanaugh warned, voice just as loud as her own.

"No, I'm not going to 'watch myself'. What you're implying and what you've been saying about me and Maura for the past couple of weeks is all _kinds _of messed up. You know it, I know it, and any person in HR worth the paycheck we give them every month knows it. I'm tired of you taking pot shots at me and at Maura just because you think you can. If you've got a problem with me being a lesbian, then that's _your_ problem, but it has nothing to do with _my _job. I'm one of the best damned detectives on the force, and, if you can't handle the fact that I'm dating the best medical examiner Boston's ever seen, then you can kiss it because that's _no one's _problem but yours." She seethed at the man still sitting at his desk.

Cavanaugh leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "You done?"

"Yeah, I'm done, and so are you. You threaten my job again because of who I'm dating, and I don't care if you _do_ have someone in HR on your side, I'm taking this up the chain. Think about how much the Brass is going to like hearing about the hero detective getting harassed. I'm sure the newspapers will have a field day with it." She made a motion with her hand as if writing in the air. "_Female Hero Detective and Girlfriend Harassed: Forced Out of Job by Homophobia_. Bet that'll go over real well with the politicians in _this_ city given how much they're trying to show their support of the LGBT community right now." She leaned forward over his desk. As her eyes narrowed, her voice took on a threatening tone, "Two can play dirty, Cavanaugh. Go ahead. Try me."

For a long moment, they stared at each other. Neither was willing to break the eye contact, and neither was willing to be the first to blink. It was Cavanaugh who ended the stalemate by way of picking her report up again. He looked it over, regarding it for a moment, before looking back at the still seething detective. "The report made its point. You can go now, Rizzoli. Close the door on your way out."

"Damn right," she growled as she turned on her heels and left the lieutenant's office, closing the door with a solid click behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for continuing to read this. As always, I super appreciate your reviews.<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

The music played softly in the background as Maura sat at her desk going over various papers while trying to ignore the call of the internet. Her gaze flipped between the stack of work still to do on her desk and the warm glow the computer screen with its screen saver of the latest shoes from a few of her favorite designer lines.

She sighed, flipped the screen off, turned her speakers up so she could hear the notification should she receive an email or instant message, and slowly turned back to her work. As Schumann's _**Wenn Ich Ein Vöglein Wär**_ continued to speak of what he would do to get to his love, the doctor squinted at the paperwork as it swam in front of her.

Her concentration was lacking. She sighed, glanced at her watch, and then tried to fill out a few additional lines.

"Maura," Jane's voice cut through the light, airy German lyrics floating through the air.

"Oh! Jane," the medical examiner set her pen down as she looked up with a smile. "I was just thinking about you. I hope you're here to take an early lunch. I think I may be hungry."

"I'm here to take a moment because, if I don't, I might shoot Cavanaugh in the nuts," the detective replied as she plopped down on the sofa.

"Something else has happened, I take it." Maura stood, closed and locked both office doors, shut her blinds, and then joined her girlfriend on the sofa. "Tell me."

In a rush of angry emotion and frustration, Jane relayed the events that had just happened in the lieutenant's office. "I'm sorry, Maura," Jane finished the story by saying, "I know we hadn't really decided what to do and I know you don't like it when I use threats, but it all just sort of came out, and now I think we're in a cold war."

"An apt metaphor, all things considered," the doctor said as she wrapped an arm around the lanky shoulders of the other woman. "Perhaps we should go to HR now? Maybe it would be better to be proactive instead of waiting for even more harassment. You don't deserve to be treated in this way, Jane. You've done nothing wrong, and Lieutenant Cavanaugh has overstepped the line enough."

Jane leaned into Maura's arms, resting the back of her head on the other woman's shoulder. "I want to find out who the leak is. Whoever it is will do it to someone else. If we just go in and complain about Cavanaugh without knowing who his inside person is, I can guarantee that nothing will happen. We need a plan. We need information. We need…"

"Someone to go undercover," the doctor interrupted, voice cautious.

Jane abruptly sat up. "What are you thinking?"

Maura slightly paled. "Angela offered to see what she could find out. Perhaps we should let her try."

"No," the detective shook her head, "no way am I asking Ma to do that. Maura, she's already having a hard enough time dealing with the fact we're dating. The last thing I want her to do is have to dig around for us when she's not even sure that she supports us. No, not happening."

"Jane," Maura was patient, "Angela offered on her own, and I think it may help her come to terms with us if she had to look at the situation from the viewpoint of someone completely against us."

One dark eyebrow raised in question. "Like Cavanaugh?"

"Yes. I don't think Angela is homophobic. Based on what I've seen of her interactions with people from the LGBT community, how she interacts with us now, and what she's said in the past regarding homosexuality, I believe she simply has issues understanding it, which is a far cry different from hating us." Maura reached forward to take Jane's hand in her own, "Dear-heart, we'll never be able to do this on our own, and your mother is exceptionally good at needling out information from others."

"Man, how would she even get started? I mean, what is she going to do? Is she going to go up there to HR and put in a complaint about us or something? I don't know," the detective shook her head, eyes tired. "I don't want to put Ma through any more, Maura."

"I think we should ask. If she seems uncomfortable with it or if she says no, then we can easily drop it and try a different approach, but, Jane, make no mistake on how I feel about this. Something _must _be done. HR can't be allowed to cause this kind of destructive havoc in employee lives." The doctor stood, pulling on the hand in hers to urge Jane to stand as well. "Why don't we take an early lunch, ask Angela to join us, and then find a private booth at the little café on the corner we all enjoy?"

Jane followed Maura's lead, standing with a grunt. "I hate Cavanaugh for putting us through this."

Maura gave the dark haired brunette a gentle kiss. "I know, but perhaps we can keep him from putting anyone else through this."

* * *

><p>"So," Angela started as they settled into a corner booth, "what's on your mind this time? One of you isn't transgendered to go along with all of this, are you?" At any other point in time, the elder Rizzoli might have been teasing, but her face said she was completely serious.<p>

"No, Ma, and, for the record, I'm completely happy being a woman. I'm just happier when I'm also dating one, not that there's anything wrong with being transgendered. I mean I… okay, this is a conversation for another time. Look," Jane poured a large amount of sugar into her coffee as she tried to not be annoyed with her mother. "Something else has gone down with Cavanaugh, and we wanted to tell you about."

"He's a bastard," Angela shot back. "I've never liked him."

"I have encountered more… pleasing people," Maura offered. "His behavior leaves much to be desired."

"Yeah, he's a bastard," Jane nodded her agreement.

After placing their orders, the detective explained the latest incident involving her superior. "In a nutshell," Jane said as she watched the server place their dishes on the table, "He and I are at a stalemate."

"We feel that something must be done before he and his HR contact cause issues in someone else's affairs as he has ours." Maura pulled the salt from Jane's hand and set it away. "The sugar is bad enough."

"So is this salad. I mean, really? I wanted a burger," the dark haired brunette pouted.

"I want you to fit in that little black dress Angela bought you last year," Maura countered, eyes narrowing.

"Fine." With a humph for emphasis, Jane stabbed a few leafy green things on her plate and took a bite.

"The problem is," Maura continued as she turned her gaze back to Angela, "that we cannot find out who the HR leak is on our own."

"I could see where you would have problems." Angela took a sip of her water as she watched the interactions between her daughter and the honey blonde. "Are you asking me to help you?"

"You did offer," Maura reminded her, "and I think you'd be very good at find out information."

"What with all those murder mystery novels you read," Jane grumbled. A split second later she let out a yelp as a sharp pain ran up her shin.

"I know this is difficult for you," the doctor continued on as if nothing had happened, "but would you be willing to help us?"

"Let me think about it," Angela answered quietly. "I'll let you know in a few days."

"That's all we can ask," Maura answered just as quietly.

"Great," Jane gave a sigh, "Now we can celebrate with chocolate cheese…"

"Little black dress," Maura interrupted.

"Fine," the detective grumbled.

"I never realized how whipped she has you," Angela passively remarked before taking another bite of her pasta.

"I am not!" Her daughter snapped back.

"Jane," the doctor warned.

"Yeah, yeah… sorry, Ma," the younger Rizzoli answered.

Angela raised an eyebrow but said nothing. However, a smirk found its way to her mouth for the remainder of their lunch.


	12. Chapter 12

A frown graced Maura's features as she continued to number crunch. Flipping from her laptop screen to the sheets of paper she had lined up on the countertop in front her, she grunted, mumbled to herself, and started a new sheet of calculations. She sighed, shook her head, and winced. "This may not work."

Jane stood in the doorway from her bedroom area and watched the honey blonde stress over whatever she was working on. The detective smiled warmly at the obvious concentration on the other woman's face, but, after a few moments of waiting for the doctor to acknowledge her, she decided that Maura was too wrapped up in whatever she was computing to notice the outside world. "Sweetie, what are you doing?"

"Calculating," came the quick yet uninterested response.

Swaggering over to her countertop, Jane sat down on the stool across from Maura. She looked down across the neatly lined up papers and tried to make sense of the notations. Finally, she caved and asked again. "Okay, but _what_ are you calculating?"

"I'm trying to find a way to increase my hit ratio without having to change gear as I want to build up another 345 points to acquire a new piece of tier armor from the next tier up, but I don't have enough gold to buy a better piece of armor, and my cloth making skills aren't high enough yet to create a better piece of armor than I currently have. It would take me," she pulled her calculator forward, punched in a few numbers, and grunted, "another 3.5 weeks to acquire enough gold based on the current rate of gold acquisition my characters are currently…"

Jane rolled her eyes. "Is this for that game you play on Tuesday nights?"

"Yes." Hazel eyes narrowed as if daring the detective to say something negative. "Some forethought and planning is required in order to maintain adequate stats for the newest instances we plan to raid."

"Instances? Raiding? You're such a geek, you know that?" Jane snorted. "One of many reasons why I lo… like you. Anyway," she said quickly to cover, "what do you play?"

"I play a Night Elf Druid Healer," Maura stated matter-of-factly as she flipped her sheet over and continued to make notations on her calculations.

"Wait a minute, in real life you deal with dead people all day, so online you play someone who heals people? Really?"

"I _am_ a doctor, Jane," the honey brunette snapped back as she placed her pencil down on the countertop with a loud snap. "Even online I prefer to do no harm. I enjoy being able to help the group move forward without having to be the one responsible for killing off the bosses or dealing with other assorted obstacles. We all have something at which we excel. Being a healer happens to be something at which I'm very good."

Jane held her hands up in a show of innocence. "Fair enough. I'm not trying to pick on you. I mean, I think it's cute you play a video game. I bet no one at the station would believe me if I told them you're a closet gamer."

"I'm sure they have better things to do with their time than discuss what I do for entertainment after hours," the doctor rolled her eyes and began to pick up the paperwork, carefully stacking it to store in a folder she kept for the purpose.

"Well, that sort of depends on what it is we're talking about. I'm sure most of them would be pretty interested to know what you and I do 'after hours', if you know what I mean?" Jane gave a devilish grinned.

Maura rolled her eyes, "Yes, I'm sure they would. Was there a reason you came over here, or were you just interested in irritating me?"

"Ouch!" Jane made a motion as if a dagger had been plunged into her chest. "Harsh, sweetie."

"You really think so?" One finely sculpted eyebrow raised in doubt.

"Maybe. I think my feelings are hurt." A pout spread over the detective's face. "I think I may need a kiss to make it better."

"Only because I like you and enjoy your company when you're not fussy," Maura said as she rounded the counter and gave Jane a kiss. "However, you still haven't answered my question."

Wrapping her arms around the small frame before her, Jane sighed. "I thought we could take a bath together. It's been a long week,we finally managed to slip out early, and I was thinking it'd be nice to relax a little. What do you think?"

"That sounds lovely." Maura smiled brightly. "Shall I run the water?"

"Nope, just get naked. I already ran the water," Jane winced as the doctor batted her on the shoulder.

"So crass," the doctor muttered as she turned to the bathroom.

"You like it!" Jane called from her seat at the counter.

"Yes," came the reply before Maura's form disappeared into the other room.

* * *

><p>"Shut up, George, her mother's right there!" A uniformed officer sitting in the café at the station gave the other uniformed across the table from him a hard look.<p>

"What?" George looked around. "Oh crap."

"Here are your orders, boys," Angela said, voice light and airy. "And, just so you know, she's not my favorite person right now either."

"Oh, Mrs. Rizzoli, we didn't mean to be disrespectful," George said, wincing. "We were just saying how… um… great it is that your daughter is…"

"Comfortable in her sexuality," the other uniformed finished.

"Right, what Jack said. It's great," George nodded, "Really great."

"No, it's really not," Angela countered. "I heard you two, and I think you should take it HR."

"You mean put in a complaint about Detective Rizzoli?" George paled. "No way. No offense, but I'd like to have children one day."

"Yeah, well, I'd like to have _grandchildren_ one day, and you see where that's getting me. If she and that woman she's dating are being inappropriate, I think you should take it up with HR." Angela crossed her arms. "She's got to learn that it's not okay to just _push _the way she's choosing to be off on other people."

Jack nodded. "That's _exactly_ what I was telling George before you walked up. These people need to learn that it's not okay to just flaunt what they're doing, you know what I mean?"

"I know _exactly_ what you mean," the older woman nodded. "You know, I think something needs to be done about it, if you ask me."

"There are a few of us that are trying, Mrs. R," George said with a nod of his head. "There are more people like us in the right places than the gays and lesbians have on _their _side. It's so ridiculous." He rolled his eyes. "First we have to let women onto the force. Then we have to promote them so everything's 'equal'. Then we have to deal with those crap HR policies that say we have to tolerate it when one of them comes onto the force, and now the golden girl detective comes out as a lesbo, and we have to be okay with it? Please!"

"You know what I think?" Angela was clearly on a roll with the two young uniformed officers. "_I _think someone in HR should put Jane _and _Maura in their place, really show them how things are and that we're not going to just sit around and do nothing while they flaunt what they're doing. It's not right."

"I think so, too," Jack nodded. "Good thing they're already working on it."

Angela grinned, seemingly delighted. "Got a good one on the inside?"

Jack nodded, a grin spreading across his face. "You got it. We got a _real _good one on our side, real good Christian girl who doesn't put up with this crap."

"I hope she's Catholic. You boys know how I feel about that," Angela said with a bit of warning in her voice.

"Oh, she is," George nodded. "She's one of the good ones, we promise." He glanced at his watch. "Crap, we got to go. It was good talking to you, Mrs. R. Listen, if you need help getting out of the hell hole you're living in at Isles's place, let us know. Me and Jack will be more than happy to help you move, okay?"

Angela gave the uniformed a warm smile. "You're such good boys! Thank you, and you be safe out there on the streets, you hear me?"

George nodded as he put his hat on. "Always."

"Goodbye! I'll see you tomorrow," Angela called as the two men left.

Turning back to the counter to clean up a little behind the display case, she humphed to herself and mumbled under her breath, "Assholes."

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think?<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

Angela slowly climbed the steps leading to her daughter's apartment. Though Jane and Maura had managed to leave early, she had to stay until the very end. Fridays meant it was time to do the weekly, and very meticulous, cleaning of the kitchen.

She was tired, but she felt she needed to talk to Jane about a few things she'd decided on and what she'd found out about HR, and she wanted to do it face-to-face with both her daughter and her daughter's girlfriend. After taking time, she had finally decided where she stood regarding her daughter's relationship, and Angela felt it was also time to let Jane know.

She just hoped her church, or at least God, would understand.

* * *

><p>"Jane, did you hear that?" Maura's voice was lazy as it echoed within in the warm, steamy confines of their bath.<p>

"Hmm?" Jane's voice was equally lackadaisical. She shifted in the warm, semi-bubbly water as she wrapped her arms around the smaller frame laid against her.

The honey brunette gave an appreciative sigh. "I think someone is knocking on the door."

"Let them knock. I'm comfortable, and, if it's important, they'll call us." One sinewy hand ran lightly down a yoga toned torso. "You really want to mess up our comfy?"

Maura groaned. "No, not really, but the knocking is urgent, and our phones are elsewhere. Jane," with some reluctance, she sat up, "go see who it is. You know there are only a handful of people it might be at this time."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I promise I'll be here when you get back," the doctor gave a dimpled grin. "Hear that? There it is again. Go see, please?"

With a grunt, Jane stood up and grabbed a towel. "Fine, but, when I get back, we're changing spots."

"Even better," came the reverberating answer as the detective left the warm comfort of her bathroom.

* * *

><p>The door opened with a jerk, and Jane stood in the doorway in nothing but a towel, much to her mother's surprise. "Ma!" Her daughter squeaked in horror and jumped back slightly as the older woman walked into the apartment. "What are you doing here?"<p>

"I came by because I have something to tell you, and," she gave the young woman a hard look, "I think it'd be nice if you'd put some clothes on first. Do you always answer the door in just a towel, or did you think I was Maura?"

"I… what? No! Maura's in the bathroom. I mean, we were… umm.. it's just that she told me to… crap," her daughter ran a hand through her hair as she glanced to the closed bathroom door. "Yeah, hold on a second, and I'll put something on. You, uh, you want to talk to Maura, too, or just me?"

"Both of you, if she's already here. That's why I came over here. Maura told me she was spending the night here, and she asked me to feed Bass." Angela began making a pot of coffee. "I'm sorry if I interrupted something."

"A bath," Jane said as she walked to the bathroom door and opened it a crack. "Sweetie, Ma's here, and she says she wants to talk to us."

Though muffled, Maura's voice was easily heard by the elder Rizzoli. "Clothes are in order, I take it?"

"I'm thinking so," the detective answered before turning to go into her bedroom.

* * *

><p>Jane and Maura sat on one side of the small countertop while Angela sat on the other. After settling with their coffee, the older woman let out a long sigh before she began to speak.<p>

Her words were slow and deliberate. It was clear she had put a lot of thought into what she was saying, and neither of the younger women was apt to interrupt her until the speech she had clearly planned was finished.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking," she said with a frown, eyes glued to the countertop. "You know this has been hard for me, and, before you start in about how this isn't _about_ me, I know that. I mean, I kind of know that, but it is sort of about me. Your father and I raised you to be a good person, to do what was right, and that always included what the church taught us, even though we don't go like we should."

Not taking her eyes from the counter, she took a sip of her coffee. "So, when you told me about you and Maura," her eyes quickly flicked up to the doctor and then back down again, "I really had to ask myself if I'd done something wrong. What did I mess up that you didn't turn out like you were supposed to? But, like I said, I've been thinking about it, and I realized that maybe I didn't mess up."

Angela finally raised her gaze to meet her daughter's eyes. "I mean, just look at you. You've saved I don't know how many lives, you take care of all of us, you're always putting other people's needs before your own, you never ask for anything even when you probably should, and you don't do anything you do for praise or rewards. You do it because it's the right thing to do." She shrugged. "When you really think about it, you are _exactly_ how your father and I raised you to be, and," she took in a deep breath, "if you're going to be sent to Hell for loving someone who clearly loves you as much as Maura does and who you clearly love as much as you do her even though you've done all these other really great, giving , amazing things, then maybe something's wrong, but it's not you or how you were raised."

"I still don't understand it, but," she pushed her hand across the small space between herself and the two women to rest it atop her daughter's where it rested atop Maura's, "I love you both, and, if you're happy, then I'm happy."

"Ma, I… I don't know what to say," Jane rolled her eyes back to keep the tears from falling.

Maura didn't bother. Instead, she wiped them away with her free hand. "Thank you, Angela."

"But, I didn't come here just to make us all emotional," the elder Rizzoli said, voice lighter as she pulled her hand away, "I've been busy. I've got some information on that HR leak."

Jane's demeanor quickly changed from emotional to protective. "You didn't do anything dangerous, did you?"

Angela gave her daughter a hard look before relaying her conversation with the two uniformed officers. "So, you're looking for a Catholic female in HR that's very religious and friends with both of those uniformed officers," she finished.

"Well, that narrows it down, kind of," Jane rolled her eyes. "This is Boston, Ma, over half the population is Catholic and female."

"Though not exactly true," Maura cut in before either Rizzoli could continue, "However, for sake of brevity, I'll spare you the accurate numbers. But I doubt very many Catholic females working in our HR department are also friendly with these two officers. I am, however, concerned they may actually place a complaint about us. That could mean any number of things from a reprimand to a demand that you and I not work together, Jane."

"Won't happen. I've got Cavanaugh running scared, but a reprimand might happen, and I'd rather not have to deal with more sensitivity training." Brown eyes rolled at the thought. "God, I don't want to go through that again." She shook her head. "Ma, I'm glad you managed to find something out. Thank you for that, but let me and Maura think it over before you do anything else, okay? We have to be careful about what we do with this or it could get messy."

"You want me to let them keep thinking that I'm against you two?" Angela finished her coffee, picked up all three mugs, and took them to the sink to wash them. "It might help."

"I think you should just keep doing what you're doing, yeah. The more people that think you're a safe zone, the more likely they are to talk around you about us when they're eating. The only problem I can think of is Frankie," Jane winced. "He sort of took the news like you did, and we still don't know where he stands."

"You let me deal with Frankie," her mother said as she rinsed the mugs.

Maura frowned at the threat in the older woman's voice. "Angela, please don't coerce him. We'd much rather everyone do as they are comfortable than to be forced to accept us. Forced acceptance isn't really acceptance at all, and…"

"I'm just going to tell him what I told you two. Trust me, Maura, I understand that no one can force you to deal with something like this. You have to deal with it on your own, but Frankie's a good boy, and he listens to me. It can't hurt to at least tell him where I've decided to stand on it."

The doctor nodded. "Thank you again, Angela. I know this won't be easy."

"Nothing worth having is ever easy," she answered as she picked up her purse. "I'm going home to feed Bass. Want me to take Jo so you two can have a quiet weekend here?"

"You don't mind?" Jane asked as she stood up to walk her mother to the door.

"Mind taking care of my grandpup and grandtortoise? Never!" With a smile on her face, Angela took Jo's leash and called the little dog to her. Jo happily bounded up to her and wiggled impatiently as the leash was attached to her collar. "Don't worry, the grandkids and I will be fine. You two have a good weekend, and I'll see you Monday." She leaned up to kiss her daughter's cheek. "See you Sunday evening, Maura," she called out before leaving the apartment, Jo in tow.

"She never stops surprising me," Jane said quietly as she locked the door.

"Your mother _is_ an amazing woman," Maura said as she slid from the stool. "Are you tired?"

"Yeah, let's go to bed. I think I might be a little clingy." The dark haired brunette followed behind the doctor, turning out lights on the way. "Things are about to get messy, Maura."

"I suspect you may be right," the doctor said as she slid into bed. "But I feel we have a strong network of support."

Jane lay down and wrapped around the smaller woman, fingers winding into the fabric of Maura's shirt. "You think we'll be fine?"

"Eventually," came the quiet answer.


	14. Chapter 14

Jane stood in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom. She watched her reflection as she turned from side to side, inspecting the profile of her body. Frowning deeply as she turned to fully face her reflection again, she let out a heavy sigh as she ran her fingers lightly across her exposed torso.

"I thought you were getting dressed?" Maura stepped behind her and glanced at the reflection of the two of them in the mirror.

A surprised grunt escaped the detective before she could stop it. "Yeah, I'm on it. Sorry."

Tilting her head to the side in thought, the smaller woman watched her girlfriend slowly walk to the dresser to pull out underwear and socks. "Jane," she asked quietly, "what were you doing when I walked in?"

"Nothing," came the all too quick response. Lanky arms moved rapidly to pull on a first layer of clothing.

Undeterred, the doctor tried again, "I can tell you're upset. Please, talk to me."

"I told you, Maura, it's nothing." Jane spotted her jeans on the floor, moved them around with her foot, stepped into them, and pulled them up, which effectively allowed her to put her pants on both legs at a time. She looked up from her dressing processes to see a raised eyebrow of disbelief. "I was just," she shrugged as she buttoned and zipped her pants, "you know, checking on my scars."

Worry creased the smaller woman's face. "Is something wrong? Does your scar tissue hurt? Are you in distress? Jane, if you're in more pain than is normal for you…"

"No, Maura, I'm fine," the dark haired brunette snapped as she turned to her closet to find a shirt. "I said I was _checking_ on them. I didn't say they hurt more than normal. Look," she said in a tired voice as she turned with a black shirt in her hand, "I'm fine. I was just having a moment, okay?" With a final huff, she pulled the t-shirt on, reached to tuck it in, rolled her eyes, unbuttoned and unzipped her pants, and started the tucking process over again.

"I don't understand what that means. 'A moment'? What kind of moment?" Maura frowned, watching the woman across the room but clearly not understanding her.

"It _means_ a moment. You know, like… like," Jane searched for the right words as she pulled a black belt and her usual black dress boots from the bottom of her closet, "Okay, look, they bother me. Alright?"

Maura blinked, trying to follow the line of the conversation. "The moments bother you?"

"No, the scars. The _scars_ bother me. I was standing in the mirror looking at my scars because they bother me. Okay? You happy now?" Jane pulled her boots on and stood in a rush, grabbed her belt, and started threading it through the loops. "Can we talk about something else now?"

"Your… your scars bother you?" Still confused and now even more concerned, the doctor pressed on. "But, Jane, why?"

"Really? We're really going to have this conversation? It's Saturday. Neither of us is on duty. We're supposed to go eat brunch. Can't we just go eat brunch?" At the look she received in response, the detective groaned but acquiesced to the unspoken demand for her to speak. "Maura," her voice was suddenly quiet. "They bother me because they're there. They make my body look ugly. I can't wear a bathing suit without having to deal with the comments from people about them, which is annoying. But," she ran a hand over her face as she spoke, "the worst thing is I can't look at myself in the mirror and not remember exactly where, why, and how I got all of them, and, honestly," she dropped her hand to look Maura in the eyes, "all but one were because I was stupid, and I hate that I've been so willing to put my life on the line like that. There's not a scar on my body that didn't get there during a time where I nearly died. _Not one_, and, now that I have… now that things are different, there's only _one_ scar I'm okay with being there because it's the only time I really had a good reason to put my life on the line like that."

She gave a shrug as she plopped down on the side of the bed. "The scars make me hate myself a little bit."

Stepping to the side of the bed, Maura knelt down to be eyelevel with the other woman. "You shouldn't be ashamed of anything you've done in the line of duty, and you certainly shouldn't hate yourself." She reached forward to place a hand on the Jane's knee. "You've been selfless. It's one of the qualities I find most attractive in you, and I can't understand why you would hate yourself for that."

"Because I could have gotten myself killed," the detective said, eyes closed to try to shut out the words that came next, "and then we'd have met when you found me on your table."

"Oh, Jane," Maura breathed her girlfriend's name out. Unsure of what to say, she slid onto the bed next to the other woman and wrapped her arms around her as best she could. "What matters," she whispered against the dark locks covering the other woman's face, "is that you're here now."

"I don't want to be stupid anymore, Maura, but I don't think I can help it, and I don't want to hurt you." The words fell in an avalanche of emotion. Fear, anguish, anxiety, and sadness laced Jane's voice as she spoke. "I don't want to do that thing I do where I put my life on the line and actually lose the bet. Then what? What happens when I die in the line of duty? God, Maura, if you walked in to see me on your table…"

"I won't," the doctor interrupted. "I won't ever see you on my table."

Jane pulled back to look into the hazel eyes intently looking back at her. She pulled in a deep, calming breath as she took in the absolute certainty she saw on the honey brunette's features. "I thought you didn't like to guess."

"I'm not guessing. I know you, and I know you would never hurt me on purpose." Maura reached out to place her hand against Jane's cheek. "That means you would never intentionally do anything that might make you find your way to my table." She gave a soft smile to the other woman. "I trust you not to hurt me, Jane." She chuckled. "At least, I trust you not to do it on purpose without a _very_ good reason."

"Thanks… I think?" Jane pulled Maura's hand down to rest in her own. "You're not curious which time I don't regret?"

The doctor shook her head. "You'll tell me when you're ready."

"Thank you," the detective said, voice cracking a little. "You know, I'm really glad we decided to do this. Date each other, I mean."

"Me, too," Maura's smiled brightened. "Do you still want to out for brunch?"

"Yes." Jane stood, and the mood lightened with her standing. "Yes, I do. I want brunch with lots of things that are really horrible for me, and then I want to go walk around the mall so I feel less guilty about eating all that stuff that was bad for me, and then I want call Ma and see if wants to have dinner with us."

"Angela?" Maura narrowed her eyes as she followed the other woman out of the room. "Really?"

"I feel the need to be around the two most important women in my life." Jane opened the apartment door and held it. "So… sound like a plan?"

"Sounds like a perfect day," Maura answered before giving the taller woman a quick kissing and stepping outside to head to their car and off to start their day.

* * *

><p>"Ma, are you sure about all of this?" Frankie sipped his coffee as his mother finished off the last of her eggs.<p>

"Frankie, your sister is a good girl. So is Maura. I already told you that I've been thinking this over a lot, and I know what the church says, but," she nodded to the waitress to get another refill on her coffee, "the church also says to be a good person, and you can't tell me that either of those two girls is anything but a good person."

Her son shook his head, still puzzling everything out. "But Paul is pretty clear on this whole gay thing, and Leviticus says…"

"Don't you quote the Old Testament at me," Angela snapped. "We don't do _half_ the stuff it tells us we should do, and we do _most_ of the stuff it tells us not to do." She poured creamer and added sugar to her coffee as she spoke, ignoring the not-so-subtle looks from the other patrons at the diner. "This isn't about a book, Frankie, it's about what we're supposed to take away from it, and you know what I think we're supposed to take away from it?"

Frankie leaned back against the booth, eyes guarded, "What Ma?"

"I think we're supposed to take away from it that we should be good to each other, take care of each other, and support each other. We should treat everyone like family because we _are_ all family, and we should love each other. _That's_ what I think we're supposed to take away from it, and I just can't believe that God, who says we should love each other and be kind to each other, wouldn't be okay with Jane or Maura." She set her spoon down and picked her mug up. "Can you?"

"Honestly? I don't know, which is why I can't decide how I feel about all of this. I mean, you know none of us are that religious, and you know I've never been the kind of guy to go out and gay bash or anything, but this makes me really uncomfortable." He shook his head. "It's like I don't even _know_ her anymore."

"What's not to know?" Angela rolled her eyes. "Did she suddenly change into a unicorn or something?"

"Ma, really? A unicorn?" Frankie rolled his eyes. "No, that's not what I meant and you know it. I just mean that… well, now that she's saying she's a lesbian, how do I know that she… I mean, every time talk to her about a girl I like, how do I know that… I mean… I don't know how to make what I'm thinking makes sense out loud."

Angela raised an eyebrow. "Then maybe what you're thinking doesn't make sense."

A growl escaped her son. "Look, how did you all of the sudden become the advocate for the gay community, anyway? The last I heard, you were having as much trouble with all of this as I am."

"I decided that Jane is the person your father and I raised her to be. She's a good person who does what's right, and she takes cares of her family and those people who need her help and protection. Just like you, Frankie. You're both good kids, and I just want you both to be happy, and," she finally lowered her voice, eyes locking with her son's. "When you see her with Maura, you can't tell me she isn't happy. Can you?"

Frankie shook his head. "No, I really can't." He pushed his coffee mug away as he thought. "This is the happiest I think I've ever seen her."

"Exactly, and you can't tell me that she doesn't love Maura or Maura doesn't love her. I mean, just look at them when they're together or when they talk about each other."

He chuckled. "Like watching two lovesick teenagers."

"Right, and you can't tell me they wouldn't do anything for each other. Frankie, you know they would. Jane nearly died trying to save Maura's life."

"She killed Hoyt to protect her," he said quietly, still deep in thought. "I know what the reports say, but I know what Korsak and Frost say about it when they got there. Jane wouldn't have killed him if Maura hadn't been in danger."

"How can a love like that be wrong, Frankie? Answer me that. Because I've been trying to find a reason, and what I come up with isn't enough to convince me that two people as devoted as they are to each other is wrong." Angela sighed. Her voice was tired, and, in it, her son could hear a plea for support. "They're good people who love each other. How can that be wrong?"

"Maybe it can't," he answered just as quietly. "Maybe it's time we took a look at the church we're going to on the holidays?"

"I've already started," Angela answered. "Frankie, they need us right now. You know what's going on at the station."

"Yeah, I've been hearing rumors." He finished his coffee. "What can I do to help?"


	15. Chapter 15

"Jane, help your brothers clear the table. Maura, why don't you help me get the dessert out?" Angela pointed around the room as if directing traffic.

Jane gave a little scoff at the eldest Rizzoli in the room. "Ma, really? Maura's…"

"Part of the family, so she can help just like the rest of you," Angela countered. She ignored the shocked look on everyone's face as she moved around the large dining table in the doctor's home and toward the kitchen. "I think dessert would be good with coffee. Maura, can you start a pot?"

Dumbfounded, Maura sat in her chair staring toward the kitchen in the general direction of the coffee maker. "I… I…" She turned toward the other Rizzoli female. "Jane?"

The detective shook her head. "No clue. Roll with it. It's the first Sunday family dinner since she said she was on our side. Let's not mess it up." With a nod of her head, Jane stood, picked up a couple of dishes, and made her way to the kitchen.

Honey brunette curls bounced as Maura nodded her head and slowly stood to make her way to the coffee maker. "Of course, Angela. I'd be happy to. I'll also get out the creamer and sugar."

"That's perfect," Angela nodded her approval as she pulled out a cheesecake from the large fridge. "I watched that cute redheaded New York chef make this on TV the other day. What's his name, Jane? You know the one. He does all those shows and is married to that pretty little blonde woman who was that lawyer on that show for so long. You know the show? It's the one you used to like to watch all the time until that other show came on that you're watching now. You know, that show with the military detective people." She rambled as she started cutting the cake and placing it on dessert dishes.

"Oh my God," her daughter muttered. "It's Bobby Flay, Ma, and I don't think he's a redhead, not that it matters. He's married to Stephanie March who played Alex Cabot on Law & Order: SVU, and that other show is NCIS it's about… never mind. I'm just going to finish washing the dishes now."

"That's what I said!" Angela protested as she handed the plates with the dessert on them to Tommy to place on the table. "Isn't that what I said? Frankie, you heard me."

"Yeah, Ma, I heard you." Frankie grinned, glancing from mother to daughter. "That's what you said."

"See?" With a definitive nod of her head, Angela placed the last slice on a plate and headed to the table. "Janie, hurry up and finish so you can help Maura with the coffee." She sat down at the head of the table, adjusting to get comfortable while she waited for her drink.

"Yeah, sure. Don't rush me," Jane mumbled as she finished the last of the dishes while Frankie rinsed and dried. "I don't understand why _you_ can't help Maura with the coffee," she spat toward her younger brother.

Frankie shook his head no. "Hey, I'm staying out of this."

"Really, Jane, do you _want_ one of your brothers helping me? I thought you were all the Rizzoli I needed?" Maura winked as she began pulling down coffee mugs.

Tommy tried to hide his smirk while Frankie choked down a surprised gasp. Jane, for her part, simply grumbled, pulled the drain plug, washed and dried her hands so she could start bringing the mugs to the table. "Nice," she said into the open air as she passed the doctor by.

"Janie, Maura," Angela began after they'd all had a chance to settle at the table again. "Frankie, Tommy, and I have been talking."

"Oh no," Jane muttered under her breath just before Maura poked her in the ribs to quiet her.

"We think we figured out who the HR leak is for you without something going wrong."

"Something _always_ goes wrong, Ma. Have you met our family?" Jane motioned around the table. "The only thing good to happen to us in… what?" She gave a couple seconds' thought. "Nearly _three_ years is Maura. So whatever it is you're thinking about doing, _don't _do it. I already told you that Maura and I are working on finding a way to…"

"It's Cynthia Boyle," Frankie interrupted. "And we think we know how to nail her."

"Okay, first of all, how do you know that? And, second of all, _how_ would you nail her?" His sister rolled her eyes at the unintended innuendo and continued on despite it. "This isn't like your mystery books, Ma, or your video games, guys. This is my and Maura's _life_ we're talking about here. You can't just…"

"Jane," Maura placed a hand on the other woman's arm, effectively silencing the detective. "Let's at least hear them out. They're trying to be supportive," she gently reminded.

"Okay," Jane leaned back in her chair, letting her hands fall into her lap. "Okay, I'm listening."

"Thank you." Turning her head toward Frankie, Maura gave a small, apologetic smile. In a calm voice, she asked, "Can you answer Jane's questions for us?"

"Well," Frankie started again, glancing to his mother for the okay and quickly getting it, "after Ma got that info from those other two uniforms, she told me about it. I haven't exactly said what side I was going to be on with all of this." He nodded to the two young women across from him. "So, when Ma told me what was going on, I figured I'd let it slip that I was with Ma on it. Once the boys figured out that I wasn't happy with my sister doing the… um… well," at the hard look from his sister, he shifted in his seat and tried again. "Once they figured out I didn't like the fact my sister was dating another woman, they were pretty quick to pull me in."

"Wait a minute," Jane interrupted, moving her hand in the air as if brushing something aside. "Frankie, that doesn't make sense. Today is Sunday. Ma told us she was okay with us on Friday, which was the same day she found out the intel about the HR girl. How did you have time to, one, talk to them and, two, get them to decide to let you in on their little circle of stupid? Your timeline doesn't make any sense at all. Something's not right there."

"I worked on Saturday. My shift started after I had breakfast with Ma, which is when she told me about all this stuff. I made sure to have lunch when I knew those two guys would have it, and Ma and I made sure we had a conversation loud enough where they could hear. Then, when our shift ended, I talked to them in the locker room, and I told them," he ducked his head, clearly not happy with what he was about to say, "that I wouldn't mind finding a good girl like that HR girl Ma was telling me about to date. I mean, I'm paraphrasing, but that's pretty much what I said."

"And they just gave up the name of this woman? Just like that? To the _brother_ of the women they're trying to get _fired_ for being a lesbian? Really?" Jane shook her head in disbelief.

Frankie shrugged. "What can I say? They're stupid."

"Clearly," Maura muttered. "It does concern me these men are enforcing the law and charged with protecting my safety when they can't seem to follow a baseline of logic."

Jane snorted. "Yeah, no kidding."

"_Anyway_, they told me that they knew a nice girl like that, Cindy Boyle. They didn't _specifically_ say it was Cindy that was the HR leak, but she _does_ work in HR, she _does_ help process ICE forms, and she _is_ Catholic. So, I'm thinking she's probably our girl, but I don't know for sure yet." Frankie shrugged. "It's a good lead, Jane."

Tommy cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Frankie, Ma, and I figured we'd get Frankie to ask her out on a couple of dates, and then we and this chick could have dinner over at my place in a couple of weeks. We figured that, if we play our cards right, we could get her to spill it at the dinner. The only catch is…"

"My entire family has to act like they hate me for at least a month." Jane sighed. "I don't know that I like this plan."

"It can work, Jane. I asked around, and Cindy thinks Frankie is cute. If he asks her out," Angela assured, "I know she'll say yes. Besides, even if she's _not_ the leak, I bet she knows who is, and we can pump her for information."

"Really, Ma? Pump her for information? You've been watching too many procedural dramas." Her daughter rolled her eyes and gave a heavy sigh. "Let me… let me just think about this for a minute." She closed her eyes. "Some stuff would have to change if this was really going to work. I mean," she opened her eyes to look back to her mother. "Ma, you couldn't keep living here. There's no way you'd still live here if you hated me and Maura as much as you're going to have to claim, and," she looked at her brothers, "you two know you couldn't so much as look at me, right?"

"We didn't say we liked it, but," Tommy shrugged, smirking a little, "not having to look at your ugly mug for a month's not a bad trade off."

Angela slapped her youngest on the arm. "Be nice to your sister!"

"Ma would have to move out," Jane said, frowning deeply.

"Are you saying you're happy with this proposed plan?" Maura's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Jane, this isn't a very stable plan of action."

"No, it's not, but it might work if we do this right. Look," she turned to the smaller woman, eyes tired but determined. "We all want to nail this bitch, and we don't want to get the IA involved until we have to, so this is a good way to go about it. We need evidence before we start throwing accusations toward HR, and you know it. All we have to do is set it so that everyone knows Ma is moving out and why. That should start the chain and make everything believable. The only problem is where she would go. The divorce isn't settled, which means she still can't move back into the house."

"She could move into your apartment," Maura said, eyes narrowed in thought, "And you could move here. A tradeoff so that everyone can go their separate ways quickly to avoid more conflict." She tilted her head. "Would that work?"

Jane choked on air. "You," she gasped, trying to catch her breath, "… you want me to move in with you?"

"Well, it is the quickest solution to all of the issues, and I believe the two uniforms Angela was speaking with on Friday offered to help her move from my home should she need it. Wouldn't that help with the ruse? To have them come help her move after we've gotten your things out of your apartment? Tommy and Frankie could help with the move as well, which would further help the whole deception play out."

"She does have a point, Jane," Frankie smirked.

"Yeah, you two should _totally _move in together. Besides, you practically live with each other anyway," Tommy chuckled.

"Oh, Maura, that would work! Jane, how soon can you get your things packed?" Angela was already making plans. "You know, I've always wanted to repaint your living room."

"Oh my God, this is _not _happening." Running a hand over her face, Jane took in a calming inhale of cool air as she mentally counted to ten and tried to think of way out of her current situation. "I don't think… I mean," she glanced around the table at the amused looks on her brothers' faces and expectant looks on the faces of her mother and girlfriend. Finally, she huffed out a sigh of defeat. "I don't know how long it would take me to pack. I've lived in that apartment for nearly four years. I mean, it'd probably go faster if I could afford packers, but…"

"That can be arranged," Maura said, her voice too bouncy for the current situation. "In fact, I know _just_ the company. I've used them in the past when I moved from my previous home to this one. They could have your entire apartment packed and moved within a day, Jane, and," the doctor ran her eye around her home, "I know exactly where all of your lovely pieces of furniture could go and which pieces I'd be happy to depart with to make room. We could have you moved in by Tuesday and Angela move ready by Wednesday evening."

"Why do I get the feeling," Jane asked, slightly irritated, "that you've thought about this before, Maura?"

"It's never too early to prepare, Jane," Maura answered, a smile on her face as she stood. "Let me get their number, and I'll call the movers. I can give them my key."

"Of course you can," the detective groaned. "I'm now a walking stereotype."

Angela reached over to place a reassuring hand on her daughter's arm, "Janie, just because you dress a little butch…"

Jane closed her eyes and let her head fall to the table. "No, Ma."

* * *

><p><strong>I think this is the most involved story line I've every done. 0_O Anyway, what do you guys think? Reviews are appreciated!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

"It'll be over soon, dear-heart," Maura whispered as she stepped up behind the tall brunette and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You know they don't mean anything they're saying right now. It's all a ruse."

"Yeah, I know, but that doesn't make it any easier to hear." Jane sighed as she leaned into Maura's arms. Dark brown eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she stood at the windows looking into the backyard of Maura's home and watching the men help her mother move from the guest house. Occasionally, one of them would throw her a disgusted looked, and there were times when the wind would blow in the direction of the house and the muffled sounds of their voices became easy to understand.

Those were the hardest times. The things her family said about her and the tiny woman now beside her as they loaded her mother's belongings into the trailer of George Arnold, one of the two uniforms Angela had spoken with less than a week before who had offered to help her move from the 'hell hole' that was Doctor Maura Isles's home, were harsh and bordered on cruel.

"Everything they're saying is what I thought they'd say about me if I ever told them I was a lesbian." Jane's voice cracked, and she her body trembled slightly. "What if they really mean some of that, Maura?"

"They love you, Jane. They're doing this to help you, to help both of us. Remember, they came up with this plan, and," the doctor gave a little squeeze to try and reassure the other woman, "you know they're only saying these things to protect their cover."

Jane snorted. "Cover, right." Shaking her head, she turned and walked away from the scene. Maura let her go, watching the slumped shouldered, lanky form move through the newly redecorated living room on the way to the bedroom. "I'm going to finish unpacking the last of the clothes, okay?"

"Would you like some help?" Maura followed behind, cautious but concerned.

"No, but you can keep me company." Jane stopped and looked around the house. "I can't believe how fast those movers and that decorator of yours put everything together. It's crazy." She glanced to a wall that now held both her plaques and Maura's. "I mean, it looks like I've lived here this whole time."

A smile broke across the honey brunette's face, and her eyes sparkled as she looked about her home. "It does, doesn't it? See? There was no reason to worry that your things and mine wouldn't blend well. It's practically a perfect balance."

"Of what?" Jane reached forward to straighten a plaque on the wall. "Of your really nice, really expensive girly things and my not-so-nice, kind-of-cheap guy stuff?"

"No, Jane," Maura's tone chastised even as she walked over to again wrap her arms around the other woman. "Of us."

* * *

><p>"What is this?" Maura sat in the middle of her bed as she pulled items from the last of Jane's luggage while Jane put them away.<p>

A blush crept across the detective's face. "That's… well, you know, Maura, every kid has something they carried around with them all the time. Some kids have blankets. Some kids have stuffed animals…" She trailed off, sure the doctor followed the line of logic.

One perfectly arched eyebrow rose in amusement. "Your security item as a child was a stuff narwhal?"

"Hey," despite the offense in her voice, Jane smiled wider and blushed even more. With a chuckle she nudged the other woman over and settled next to her in the large bed as she took the small, grey stuffed animal from her. "Leave Nam alone. He's clean. I ran him through the washer the last time I did laundry." She ran an affectionate hand over the well-loved toy.

"Nam?" Maura smiled brighter. "Cute." She reached over to pet the narwhal. "Please to meet you, Nam."

Jane's eyes narrowed. "Are you patronizing me?"

"No, of course not. I understand the emotional attachment children have to inanimate objects. In case you've forgotten, I was a child once, too. Besides," Maura scooted to the edge of the bed and hopped off. As she spoke, she knelt down to open the bottom drawer of her nightstand. "It's not uncommon for those childhood attachments to carry over into adulthood. So, if Nam was your comfort object as a child, then it only stands to reason he's still important to you now." She glanced up from what she was doing to offer a reassuring smile. "Correct?"

"Yeah," Jane begrudgingly admitted. "Man, if they guys knew that I still…"

"I won't tell. You know you can always trust me," the doctor said as she crawled back onto the bed and resettled. "Chester," she offered as an explanation as she held up a small stuffed penguin that was as equally well-loved as the narwhal still sitting in Jane's lap.

Jane's smiled beamed as she looked at the little toy. "He's cute."

"I've had him since I was born. Mother tried on several occasions to discard him, but I was a persistent child. Each time she tried to take him from me, I'd spend hours staring at her until she finally gave in and returned him. I believe she didn't want me to become emotionally dependent on a stuffed animal, but," Maura shrugged, "we traveled a great deal, and, as you know, I went to boarding school at a young age, so it was only natural that I developed an attachment to something from home."

"Nam was a gift from my grandfather when I was about five," Jane moved the narwhal so that it lay between them. "When I first had him, he was a lighter shade of grey, and he had a policemen's hat, but I have no idea what happened to it. I'm willing to bet Ma cut it off at some point. I just," she shrugged, "I don't know. My grandfather and I were close – Pop's dad."

"As I understand it, Chester was a gift from a friend of the family." Maura set the penguin down so that it leaned against the side of the other toy. "I really don't know why this specific toy was the one I became so attached to."

"Well, he's cute, and I'm glad you showed him to me. It makes me feel less lame that I still have mine." With a chuckle, Jane turned her head to lay a kiss on Maura's cheek. She glanced back down "Hey, don't penguins and narwhals live in the same place or something?"

"Not exactly," the doctor tilted her head, thinking, as she looked at the toys. "Narwhals live in the Atlantic and Russian waters of the Artic Ocean . Penguins, on the other hand, populate the southern hemisphere, mostly around Antarctica."

"So," Jane smirked, "they both come from mostly cold places but from completely opposite sides of the world?"

"Essentially." Maura nodded.

"That seems about right," the detective chuckled as she pulled away to stand again. "I'm going to finish this unpacking thing, and then can we, maybe, go see a movie or something? I feel the need to get out for a little bit."

"That sounds lovely. I'll go shower and change while you finish here. Do you want me to look up movie times, as well?" Maura began to pull off her clothing as she headed to the master bath.

"No, I'll do it. If you're taking a shower, I've got plenty of time." Dark brown eyes watched the smaller woman move across the room, clothing falling off as she went. "On second thought," the detective said as she let the suitcase fall to the floor, "a shower sounds good."

With that parting thought, Jane followed Maura into the master bathroom leaving Nam and Chester to keep watch over the bedroom and the various items belonging to both women that were now skillfully displayed about the room.


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey, you okay?" Frost carefully set a hot cup of coffee down on his partner's desk.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Jane answered, not bothering to look him in the eye. It was Friday, but the week had been long, and she knew that rumors had been flying around the station since the middle of the week when her mother moved out of Maura's house and Jane had moved in. "I'm just glad it's Friday. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I feel you." He nodded as she leaned against her desk and took a sip of his own coffee. "You know," he started as casually as he could, "if you need to talk about anything with me, you know you can, right?"

"Frost, I don't want to talk about it. I know what they're saying. What's going around the station about me, my family, and Maura is mostly true, and, frankly, I really can't deal with it right now." She grunted as she picked up the coffee cup, visibly struggling to keep her fingers wrapped tightly around it. "But, yeah, I know, and thanks."

"I'm your partner, Jane. I don't want you to think that I'm one of them. I'm not." He glanced around the room to see if anyone was listening, but no one seemed to be paying attention to them. "I know what it's like to be discriminated against. I know how it feels to be the outsider, and, even though I'm still pretty pissed at you for getting to Maura first, I've got your back."

Despite herself, the senior detective chuckled. "Hey, you snooze, you lose."

Frost shrugged. "You sure you don't want to go grab lunch or something? I mean, I know you and the doc normally eat together, but, you know, if you just needed a break from the drama…"

"Okay, Frost, okay. I get it." Jane set her coffee cup down and picked up her desk phone. A few short seconds later, her partner was hearing one end of what he clearly considered to be an amusing conversation.

"Maura, can I take a rain check on lunch today? Apparently, I need to spend some quality time with my partner. What? Oh… ha. I bet you thought that was funny, didn't you? …Yes, I know, Maura. You don't have to explain it to me. 'Partner', I get it. Look, are you okay with… oh, right, I forgot about that. Yeah, okay. I'll see you at my place tonight?" Jane groaned and rolled her eyes. "Sorry, sweetie, I'm still adjusting. I _mean_, when will you come home tonight from your class? Gotchya. Okay, I'll see you then unless, you know, work comes up. Later." With a frustrated sigh, she hung up the phone, stood, and pulled her blazer from the back of her chair. "Okay, Frost, this is your show. Where are we going?"

"_My_ show?" Both of his eyebrows shot up and he smirked. "Really?" He turned around as if looking for something. "Where the hell are my cameras, then?"

"Hey," Jane gave him a playful push, "shut up, and you're driving."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered back, giving a crisp salute before leading the way out of the office.

* * *

><p>"Man, there's nothing like a homemade tamale," Frost said as he settled at the small table in the very small hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant to which he had brought them. "Maria is the <em>best<em> at making these. I'm telling you, Jane, you really should try their tamales. You sure you don't want to at least take a bite?" He made an offer by waving a hand down toward the food in front of him.

"First of all," Jane glanced around at the clean but small establishment with its Mexico themed décor and small group of patrons scattered about, "where the hell do you find these place, Frost? And, second of all, you know Maura would kill me if she knew I was eating that many calories with that much grease in one sitting. Can't do it. I have to stick with the taco salad." She gave a heavy sigh. "Chicken's good, though."

Frost chuckled and shook his head as he began to unroll a tamale from its cornhusk prison. "Man, anyone ever tell you that you're whipped?"

Jane stabbed her salad as she glared at her partner. "One, and the only reason she's still alive is because she gave birth to me. Got it?"

"Whatever," he shrugged. "So," he looked up, eyes apologetic but determined, "speaking of, do you really know what they're saying about you and your family?"

She shrugged. "I have a pretty good idea."

"They're saying Angela moved out of Maura's guest house because she and your brothers don't want to have anything to do with you now that you're… you know… that you're out, and they're saying she kicked you out of your apartment, too, which is why you're staying with Maura. Any of that true?"

For a long moment, Jane sat there and thought about how much she wanted her partner to know. In the end, she decided it was best to keep him out of the loop in case things became messy and people's jobs that weren't in HR came on the line. She didn't want to cost him his job, so she stuck with the cover story. "Well, mostly. You know when I told Ma, and she… she didn't take it how I hoped she would. I mean, she tried for a few days, but, you know how she is. She always wanted me to get married to a nice guy and give her grandchildren."

Dropping her fork on top of her salad, she leaned back. Her food suddenly looked less appealing. "Frankie has always followed whatever Ma did, and Tommy really does have a thing for Maura, so you can kind of see how neither of them would be on my side. So, yeah, they pretty much disowned me, and Pop's just out of the picture."

"Yeah," he nodded, frowning deeply as he listened. "What about your apartment? How can she kick you out of your own place? That one didn't make sense to me."

"She can't. I offered it up. I figured it would be the quickest way to keep any more drama from coming up. I mean, there's no way that situation was going to be pretty if Ma kept staying there after … after disowning me, and I figured I could just move into the guest house like how Ma was doing. Maura _insisted_ I stay in the main house." Jane shrugged. "I'm not sure how I feel about that, to be honest. We just started dating, and we're already living together. If I started wearing flannel and a tool belt, I'd be a walking punch line for a lesbian joke."

"Sometimes life throws you curveballs. At least there was a way to get things squared away kind of quick, but," he stopped talking, looking for the right words. "I want to say I'm sorry, but I know that doesn't really help. If you need anything, you know you can ask." He pulled another tamale open as he thought. "And, if you want me to set them straight at the precinct, I will."

Jane shook her head in the negative as she leaned forward to pick her fork up again. "No, Frost, let it go. Maura and I have enough crap going on without dragging up more, and you know that's all that'll happen. Cops gossip worse than old women. They talked about us before, and this isn't any different. Let them talk."

"Okay, but, if you change your mind, all you have to do is say the word." He dipped his tamale into a little plastic cup of hot sauce. "Hey, you want me to fill Korsak in?"

Again, she was quiet as she considered how much she wanted her former partner to know. She finally decided it was best to keep everything in the family. "Yeah, if he asks or whatever."

"Okay." Finishing his food, he bunched up the trash on the table. "Hey, you want dessert? They've got this really great Tres Leche cake that…"

"Calories," Jane grumbled as she continued to munch on her salad.

"Right," he laughed. "I'm going to go get a piece. I'll be right back."

"Maura owes me for this," the detective mumbled when her partner walked away. "Whatever she wants me in that little black dress for better be worth it."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, I think I may see the end of the piece coming into view. This really did turn out to be epically longer than I meant for it to be. Thanks for hanging in there with me!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

"It's been over three weeks since Ma moved out," Jane sighed as she settled into bed next to Maura. "Frankie and Tommy haven't said more than six words to me, and I miss all the family drama." She frowned as she picked up the lotion on her nightstand and started to apply it to her arms and legs. "What if they weren't acting? What if this was their way of getting me out of their life?"

"I know this has been hard, but I don't believe Angela would abandon you, Jane." Maura turned in the bed to watch the other woman. Hazel eyes followed the smooth motions of the detective's hands as they glided over freshly washed skin. "The timetable they gave us was for a month. We still have another week before they even attempt to gain information from her. We knew this would take time."

"It feels like a freaking eternity." With a sigh, the dark haired brunette stood again to lotion her back and torso. "I can't wait for this to be over so we can be a family again." She grimaced slightly as she arched her spine to run her lotioned hand across her lower back. Rolling her eyes, clearly irritated with the sharp pain she felt, she glanced down her body. "I wish my scars didn't hurt randomly. I think I'm doing fine, and then they decide to hurt, and, before you ask, you know I still do my physical therapy."

"Actually, I'm delighted you've taken to putting on lotion at night after your shower," Maura grinned, eyes dancing in the dim light of the bedroom.

"Well, keeping my skin from drying out _does_ help keep them from hurting. You were right about that, and the lotion you bought me smells nice enough. I would have probably picked up something cheap." Jane flipped the top back on the bottle and walked to the chest to pull out a tank top and boxers.

"I'm not convinced you would have ever bought any on your own." Maura tilted her head as she watched the other woman walk back to the bed, clothes in hand. "Are you certain you applied the lotion completely over your body?"

"Yeah," Jane gave a 'well duh' look. "You just watched me do it. I mean… wait." She grinned, eyes narrowing. "Were you being dirty?"

"If by 'dirty', you are asking me if I was enjoying watching you apply lotion across your very nude and very attractive body, then yes." The doctor's smirk turned into a grin. "I can honestly say it was a highlight of my day."

"I suddenly feel exposed," Jane mumbled as a blush broke out across her body. She quickly pulled on her boxers and top and crawled into bed. "Am I rubbing off on you, or have you always been this pervy around me?"

"Yes," came the quick answer followed by a chuckle as Maura turned over to flick the light off.

"Great. That means I'm going to start spouting off random facts soon. Yay," Jane deadpanned as they settled into their usual spots. She reached out to pull the smaller woman to her, smiling as she inhaled the scent of Maura's shampoo mixed with what was simply Maura.

"Google-light," the doctor retorted, not bothering to hold back another chuckle.

Jane placed a kiss on Maura's neck. "Stop."

"Good night, dear-heart."

"Good night, sweetie."

* * *

><p>"Cindy! I'm so glad you could make it." Angela gave her best smile as she stepped aside to let the young woman in followed by Frankie.<p>

"Sorry we're late, Ma. Cindy had to work late." He closed the door behind him and glanced around the small apartment. "Where's Tommy?"

"In the shower. He just got off work, too. Dinner should be ready in just a few minutes." With a nod toward the small table for the two to sit down, she trotted back to the kitchen.

"Can I help, Mrs. Rizzoli?" Cindy watched the older woman tend to a pot on the stove.

"Thank you for offering, but Tommy's kitchen just isn't big enough for two. You just sit down right there and enjoy the break. I know you two work so hard." With a grunt, Angela moved the pot from the stove to the sink to pour out the water. "So, Cindy, how have things been? HR as busy as usual?"

"We've had a few hires this month, but nothing that's been too much. I mean, it's not like we've gotten any more undesirables this year." Cindy shrugged as she looked to Frankie. "It's been sort of a boring month."

"What about that Cruise guy? What's his name?" Frankie looked to his mother. "Ma, you know the one I'm talking about. You said you thought he was hitting on me the other day."

"Oh yeah," Angela nodded as she continued to tend the food, "Carlos Cruise." She frowned as she leaned in to whisper in an almost conspiratorial fashion, "I really think he's _that way_. When he's down in the café, I keep seeing him watch the other men like he should be watching the other women."

"Oh, really?" Cindy's eyebrow rose in interest.

Angela nodded. "Yeah, and the other day, he tried to get Frankie to go out to a bar with him this Saturday night. What was that place?"

"The Sailor's Retreat," Frankie answered between sips of his drink he'd retrieved from the fridge. "No way you'd catch me in a place like that."

"I really thought we'd managed to sift through all of those," Cindy said, clearly upset.

"Cindy, you're in HR. Aren't you people trying to do something about that?" Angela walked over to the bar to begin setting out the food.

"Well, technically, we can't. I mean EEOC makes it illegal for us to discriminate based on sexual preference, but," she tilted her head, "there might be something I can do."

"I hope you can do something. I hate having to trust those kinds of people to have my back. I mean, who trusts them?" Frankie gave an over exaggerated shrug. "That's _exactly_ why I don't talk to Jane anymore."

"I thought Ma told us not to say her name," Tommy strolled in with wet hair and clean clothes on. "Hey Cindy."

"Hi Tommy," she gave a nod.

"I was just saying you can't trust people like her, and Ma and I think one of our new uniforms is like that." Frankie handed a can of Mt. Dew to his brother. "Cindy said she might be able to do something about it."

"Yeah?" Popping the can open, Tommy took a seat at his table. "Be nice to at least be able to do something about _one _of them. I can't believe no one's done anything about Ja…" At his mother's grunt of disapproval, the youngest Rizzoli cleared his throat and tried again. "About _her_ and the… uh… other _her_."

Frankie shrugged. "I'd put in a complaint, but I don't think it'd do any good. Those two are the precinct's golden children. You can't touch them!"

"I'm embarrassed every time I see them in the café," Angela added as she sat down in the only remaining chair at the table. "Tommy, be a good boy, and make us plates, will you?"

"Sure, Ma," he nodded as he stood, motioning for the rest to remain where they were.

"I mean, they just waltz right in there holding hands and making eyes at each other like that's normal. That's not normal," Angela bellowed, clearly distraught. "No child of mine should _ever_ act that way. You hear me, boys?"

"Yes, Ma," they answered in unison as if this wasn't the first time they'd heard this particular rant.

"I'm sorry, Cindy, you probably don't want to hear about our family issues," reaching a hand out, Angela gave the younger woman a pat on the arm. "I know there's nothing anyone can do. It just kills me to have to seem them there every single day when I know they're going to go to Hell, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"It's fine, Mrs. Rizzoli. I understand." Glancing around the room, Cindy seemed to come to a decision. "I may be able to do something."

"I don't want you to get in trouble," Angela countered, voice full of honest concern.

"I won't. I've… uh… I've done it before," she blushed. "When Doctor Isles changed her ICE form, I slipped a copy to Lieutenant Cavanaugh." She cleared her throat as she felt three pairs of eyes fix on her. "Since he knows already and with their habit of causing trouble," she tilted her head, giving a small smirk, "I'm sure HR could find several complaints against them that could culminate in a firing or, at the very least, a suspension."

Clearly shocked, Angela pulled her hand back as she asked, "You could do that?"

"Sure," Cindy shrugged as if what she was saying was nothing important. "I mean, I work in HR, and I'm the one who handles the complaints, mostly. All I have to do is slip a few notes to Cavanaugh about what's going down, talk to a few people on the force who think like we do, and the rest would be easy."

"You don't say?" The eldest Rizzoli's voice was starting to harden.

Frankie quickly jumped in. "Babe, how would you _not_ get caught? I mean, there's a bunch of red tape to get a cop fired, right? And, I mean, the other one is the _chief_ medical examiner. She was selected by the governor. It can't be _that_ easy to get rid of them."

Cindy smiled proudly as she explained. "You just keep it off the books. Don't send emails and don't use the precinct phone lines. They're all recorded. I just made a copy of the ICE form and walked it down to Cavanaugh. There's not much to it, really. If they can organize, so can we."

"That makes sense," Tommy said as he sat down a plate for each of the people waiting to eat. "I bet you go all over the place, right? You're like an HR runner or something."

"I'm an admin, yes, so I have to run errands frequently, and it'd be nothing at all for me to make this happen. It took me less than ten minutes from the time Isles handed over the updated form to when I walked it into Cavanaugh's office." Again, she shrugged as she turned to her plate. "This food looks delicious."

"Thank you," Angela replied as her jaw muscles twitched.

"Nice," Tommy eased into his chair. "Wish I had a cush job like that. Working at the docs sucks, but at least it's a job."

"Hey, enough with this." Frankie gave his mother a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Ma. I know how much you hate to hear us talking like this."

"It breaks my heart," came the genuine reply from Angela as she slowly nodded.

He sighed, turning to the younger woman. "So why don't we stop talking about it and eat? Babe, you and me can work out the details later, maybe tomorrow. Good?"

"Okay, Frankie," she beamed. "I can't wait to eat this. It just smells so good!"

"Excuse me," Angela whispered as she stood from the table. "I suddenly don't feel so good. Tommy, I'm going to go lay down in your bed for a little bit, okay? I think I feel a headache coming on."

"Okay, Ma, I got it. Frankie and I'll clean up."

"You're good boys," she muttered as she entered the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry my updates are so slow in coming along.<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

With a huff, Jane stepped inside what she had come to think of as her house, closed and locked the door, and hung her keys on the hooks for the purpose. "Maura!" Her voice echoed through the quiet as she walked into the main living room. "Sweetie, I'm sorry I'm late. Don't be mad." Without so much as a glance around, she turned to the hall closet to hang her jacket. "I'm _really _sorry I didn't call, but Frost found a lead on the Robertson case, and we had to go hunt down a guy at the docks. You know reception out there is crap, but" she closed the closet door and turned around, still talking. "I promise to make it up to you. I know you wanted us to… OH MY GOD MA!"

Angela Rizzoli and the rest of the clan sat quietly in the living room watching the detective while Maura stood in the kitchen, smirking. "Hi Janie," the older woman gave her daughter a broad smile, "I'm glad to see Maura's finally trained you to hang your clothes up."

"It was no small feat, I assure you," Maura offered as she came from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. "Hello dear-heart, I'm glad you're home," she whispered just before giving the still shell-shocked detective a gentle welcome kiss and the warm mug of properly doctored coffee.

"I… um… hi sweetie?" It was a question. The lanky brunette was clearly confused about the current situation. She took the offered mug and slowly walked over to the leather chair that once had been in her apartment and was now the only available sitting place in the living room. "Ma, Frankie, Tommy," she sat the mug down on a coaster much to her mother's amusement, "what are you three doing here? You're going to blow your cover."

"What? Not even a 'hi Ma' or a 'good to see you, Ma' or even a 'I've missed you, Ma'? All I get is 'why are you here'?" Angela's voice teased, but her eyes showed relief at being able to actually speak with her daughter. "We're here because it worked."

Maura stepped beside the chair Jane occupied and placed a hand on the tense shoulder of her girlfriend. "Jane, they've gotten something on Cynthia, and I believe that, with some help from Frost and Korsak, we may be able to 'nail her', as you like to say."

"Yeah, I think, after this, we should do a TV show or something. We'd win a million awards," Tommy grinned, leaning back on the sofa and placing one arm along the back and behind his mother. "Seriously, Jane, we'd get all the awards."

"Right, because people want to see our ugly mugs up on their TV screens," she snorted and rolled her eyes. "So, anyone going to tell me what happened or what?" The detective was slowly coming back to herself from the surprise of walking in to find her family waiting for her for the first time in all most two months.

"Cindy's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she's got a lot of pull in the HR department. It's kind of scary what she can do," Frankie said as he resettled in the other leather chair. "We had dinner with her at Tommy's place two nights ago, and she told us about the ICE forms. Ma was right, she's the one that leaked it to Cavanaugh, and, you're not going to believe this, but she offered to get you and Maura fired. Honestly, with the way she was talking, I think she could do it, which is just… I don't know, Jane. She's dangerous."

"Maybe I should just shoot her," Jane muttered and then winced as the doctor swatted her shoulder. "Hey, abusive!" An evil gleam in her dark brown eyes, the detective's hand shot out and wrapped around the honey brunette's waist. Giving a quick yank, she pulled the smaller woman off balance, causing her to land none too delicately in the dark haired brunette's lap.

"Jane!" Maura managed to sputter as she fell with a grunt.

"What? You're wearing jeans. Actually," she narrowed her eyes. "Those are _my_ jeans, and that's my BPD shirt. Really, Maura?"

The doctor gave her best playful pout as she adjusted to be more comfortable in Jane's lap. "They're comfortable."

"Get a room," Tommy grumbled.

"I _have_ a room. You're _in _it," Jane shot back.

"Actually, we have the entire house," Maura smirked, her eyes daring Tommy to say anything else.

"Aw, man, Really? Ew," Frankie said, making a face as he glanced down at the leather chair on which he was currently seated.

"Enough," Angela shouted. "Tommy, stop antagonizing your sister. Jane, stop making us think things none of us want to think. Maura, that goes for you, too. Frankie, stop acting like you've never had sex in your living room before."

"Okay, that's just… oh my god," with the hand not wrapped around Maura, Jane rubbed her forehead. "I _missed_ this?"

Maura chuckled. "Yes, and so did I," she said quietly.

"Ma, I can't believe you just said that," Frankie's face was becoming redder by the second. "You know I wouldn't touch Cindy with a ten foot pole if I didn't have to, and we _are not_ doing… _that_." He gave a shudder. "Can we just talk about what to do to get her out of HR so I can stop acting like I want to date her, please?"

"We can start by you guys telling me how we're supposed to bring Korsak and Frost into this when we've been keeping them out of it this whole time. They're going to be pissed." Jane signed leaning her forehead against Maura's shoulder and closing her eyes. "I hope they understand why…"

"They know," Frankie interrupted. "I told Frost and Korsak what was going on about two weeks ago. They cornered me in the locker room after work one day, and it was either tell them what was up or they were going beat the crap out of me. I figured it'd work better for everyone if I just told." He shrugged.

"Must all of you be so violent all the time?" Maura gave a disapproving shake of her head. "Why were they going to harm you, Frankie?"

"They…um… they thought I was being a little unreasonable about how I was treating Jane, and then, when they found out I was dating Cindy, they decided I needed some sense beat into me." He shifted in his seat. "They were pretty pissed when I explained everything, but they got it. They told me they'd stay out of it as long as we had everything under control, but, you know," he shrugged. "They have your back, Jane."

"Okay," his sister's word stretched out as she thought about everything she was being told. "So, when I thought they were pissed at me two weeks ago, they really were pissed at me two weeks ago. Good to know." She leaned back, opening her eyes, and pulling her gaze back to her mother. "Start at the beginning?"

"Dinner's ready. It's in the warmer." Angela bounded up from her place on the sofa. "This is going to be a long one, sweetie. You're going to want to eat. Come on! Maura and I have been slaving over a hot stove all afternoon."

"Two hours," Maura whispered before placing a kiss on Jane's cheek and standing, "but I think I'll let her hyperbolize just this once."

"Just this _once_?" Jane's eyebrow rose in question. "Really?"

Again, the honey brunette chuckled. "Let's go eat with our family, dear-heart."

With a grunt and a mock annoyed look, the detective took the doctor's offered hand, and stood. "Okay… okay…"

* * *

><p>"Let me see if I get this straight," Jane said between bites of her favorite dessert. "You get Frost to check the security footage from the precinct to show Cindy walking to Cavanaugh's office with Maura's ICE form, and, you hope, get him to enhance the footage enough to show that's what she's carrying. Before you do that, you get Korsak to actually get the security footage by way of saying he wants it to check up on us and see how we work when he's not around. That covers proving she's the one that leaked the ICE form, but that's assuming the footage isn't too grainy or she held the paper in a way that Frost can get a good image of it." She shook her head. "Short of that, you've got nothing but her word, and that's not going to be enough to do anything about her. So, really, we've got a whole lot of nothing."<p>

"What we have is a lead, Jane," Frankie sipped his coffee. "We've also got bait. Carlos Cruise is a pal of mine, and I trust him. If we brought him in on this, I'm pretty sure he'd be game. He and his boyfriend are the activist type anyway."

"We'd be asking him to risk his job, Frankie." His sister shook her head. "No. I'm not bringing anyone else in the family into this in any way that might hurt any more of us. I'm just not doing it. If we can't nail her on our own, then we're stuck. There's got to be something we're missing that we can use against her that doesn't require us to drag anyone else into this."

"The family?" Angela narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, 'the family'? Are you saying that your father or I…"

"No, Ma. It's… um… okay, see, the thing is that, while you guys have been ignoring us, Maura and I have been getting involved in the community here, which is nice. I mean, it's good to be around people who get what you're going through because they've gone through it. You know? I guess I'm starting to pick up the slang."

"Yes, you are. I believe we both are." Maura set her water glass down as she explained. "The Family is a term those associated with the LGBT community use when talking about other members of the community." She picked up her dessert fork. "I'm apt to agree with Jane. I don't like the idea of putting anyone else at risk."

"Look, we have to catch her in the act. If we don't, then Jane's right, and we got nothing." Frankie was clearly getting irritated. "I've been dating this chick for nearly two months, and I'm not just going to back out of this now. I've had to act like I agree with all the messed up crap that comes out of her mouth, and, honestly, listening to her on repeat about how evil and jacked gays and lesbians are has pretty much set me straight on how NOT homophobic I am. I can't take much more of this, Jane. I swear to God, if I have to listen to her much longer, I'm going to shoot her myself."

"Okay," Jane held up a hand to stop her brother's rant. "Okay, Frankie. Just chill. Let me think about this for a minute. I don't know Cruise that well, but, if you say we can trust him, then I trust your judgment. But that's still asking him to put his job on the line because, if we mess up, then he _will_ get fired. How do we keep that from happening?"

"Vince." Angela's voice broke into the conversation for the first time since dessert was served. "He knows who above Cavanaugh we can trust. If we bring whoever that is in onboard along with Carlos, then his job wouldn't really be in trouble."

"Angela has a good point." Maura nodded as she finished her dessert.

"You know," Tommy stood, picking up the dishes to take to the sink, "I think Ma's right, too. I mean, she and Korsak have been spending a lot of time together, and, if she says he knows, then…"

"Whoa… hold a minute." Jane turned to her mother. "What does he _mean_ that you and Korsak have been spending a lot of time together?"

"Well, Vince and I have a lot in common, and he's a nice man. We just," her mother rolled her eyes. "You know, Jane, Vince and I are _people_. We have _needs_, too, and not just what you're thinking, so you can stop making that face at me. It's nice to be able to talk to someone your own age who isn't your family who understands what's going on. He understands, Jane, and you can't get mad at me for making friends."

Maura set a hand on Jane's arm to keep her from talking. Much to everyone's surprise, it worked. "No, we can't. It's understandable that you would want someone to share the things with you that you can't share with your family, and Korsak _is_ a very good man." She looked to the woman beside her as she gave the arm in her hand a gentle squeeze. "No one can fault someone for wanting to be with a person who understands them."

Jane's head dropped and she gave a little nod. "Point taken," she mumbled before lifting her head again and glancing around the room. "If we do this, we do this right. Let's get Frost and Korsak over here on Friday night, and we can sit and plan. In the meantime, Ma," she took in a deep breath. "When you see Korsak again, will you ask him who he knows in the Brass we can trust? We'll want whoever that is here on Friday, too."

"He's going over to my apartment later tonight. I'll ask him then." Angela stood to help Tommy wash the dishes. "He said he wanted to check on me to see how all of this went, so it'll be a good time to ask him."

"I hope this works," Jane said as she stood to help clean off the table. "If it doesn't, then we're fuc…"

Maura stood, placing her hand over Jane's mouth. "Language." Suddenly, the doctor's face morphed from disapproving to shocked. "Jane! I can't believe you just did that!"

The detective's eyes sparkled and a Rizzoli smirk appeared as Maura quickly pulled her hand away.

Tommy turned to watch the two. "What did she do?"

"She… she _licked_ my hand." Maura turned to walk toward the bathroom. "Oh, that is just so… Jane, really?"

The youngest Rizzoli snorted. "If that's how you act when she licks your hand, then how do you act when she licks your…"

"Hey!" Jane's voice cut the air. "Say anything else, and you're going to have a hard time pulling my boot out of your…"

Maura gave a frustrated grunt. "Jane."

"Fine." The detective rolled her eyes. "Just shut up, Tommy."

A smile on her lips, Maura continued on to the master bath to wash her hands, making a mental note of how, despite the discord caused by the Rizzoli family, she felt better with them there.

* * *

><p><strong>How do you guys feel about the progression of the story? What do you think about the plan?<strong>


	20. Chapter 20

"Man, this day _sucks._" Jane paced the living room as she waited. "Well?"

"You know, this isn't as easy as people think. There's a lot of work in enhancing a video and getting a decent still from it. I can't just wave some magic wand and, poof, there it is." Frost rolled his eyes as he shifted on the chair in which he was perched at the dining table. His laptop buzzed quietly as he stared intently at the screen. "You're just going to have to chill, Jane. I think I might have something, but it's going to take me a little time to get it worked out."

"Cut him a break, Rizzoli," Korsak called out from the kitchen where he stood helping Angela make pasta. "We're all doing the best we can here."

"Yeah, I know. It's just," she stopped pacing to turn toward the kitchen. "What if this doesn't work? I mean, if we can't at least get a decent picture to show Fletcher, then he's not going to help us out. If he doesn't…"

"He'll help. I already told you. Fletcher's a good guy. I've known him for years, and his daughter and her _wife_ are good friends of mine, too, Fletcher's always talking about both of them in a good way. He'll help." Korsak grinned as Angela quietly praised him on his pasta making expertise.

"Right," Jane rolled her eyes at the scene going on in the kitchen and began to pace again. "Where is Maura anyway? She was supposed to be here half an hour ago."

Frost sighed at his partner's impatience. "Paperwork?"

"She's always up to date on that stuff." The lanky brunette plucked her phone from her belt and hit the speed dial button. Waiting until the line picked up, she started the conversation with, "Where are you?"

"_Hello to you, too."_

She rolled her eyes. "Maura, you were supposed to be home already. Is everything okay?"

"_Don't be worried, Jane. I'm fine. I decided to stop by the store and pick up a few things. Before you ask, Bass is out of strawberries, you're out of nondairy creamer, and I'm out of tea."_

Jane walked to the window, peaking outside. "Maura, you didn't drive to work today. We carpooled. You're taking a cab home?"

"_Yes. In fact, I was shortly going to call one."_

The detective was already pulling on her blazer and grabbing her keys from where they hung. "I'll come get you."

"_You don't have to…"_

"I need to get out of the house." She turned to yell to the people behind her. "I'm going to get Maura. We'll be back in a bit."

"Don't be late!" Angela called from her place in the kitchen. "Your brothers and Captain Fletcher should be here in two hours."

"We'll be here, Ma!" With that, Jane stepped outside. "Can you pick up some Red Vines, too?"

"_Yes. I'll see you soon."_

"Bye, sweetheart."

* * *

><p>Jane stepped into the grocery store and looked around. One hand on her hip, she again pulled her phone out. "Hey, I'm here. Where are you?"<p>

"_Candy aisle. I'll wait here for you."_

Nodding, the detective clipped her phone back on her belt and quickly strode to the aisle. She stopped short when she saw a tall, blonde man leaning too closely to the doctor as she politely smiled and took a step back. As Jane watched, the man gave what some might consider a devilish smile as he stepped closer to Maura and continued to talk to her. Jane bit back a growl as she started walking toward the two.

"I've seen you here a lot," the man was saying as Jane approached. "Do you live nearby?"

Maura sighed. "This is my preferred store. I appreciate the selection they maintain, and the prices are acceptable." She glanced to her left and reached out to pull a package of Red Vines from the shelf.

"Oh, hey, you like those, too? I love those things." He grinned wider. "I normally get them when I'm at the movies or when I'm doing a marathon at home. You thinking of movie night?"

"No, not exactly." She dropped the package into the hand basket she was clutching and started to turn around but his hand on her basket stopped her.

"Would you like to have a movie night?" He continued to smile at her.

Jane stepped up behind Maura. Without a word, she wrapped her arms around the shorter woman's waist and pulled her backward into the embrace as her dark brown eyes stared down the blonde man in front of them. Her voice was low and menacing as she spoke. "Sorry I took so long. Traffic's a bitch."

"Jane," the relief was clear in Maura's voice. "I understand. I got your Red Vines." She glanced down at the basket and back up to the now bewildered man. "My girlfriend may be planning a movie night, but I suspect she's not interested in anyone's company but my own."

"You'd be right." The detective stepped back and released the honey brunette. She kept her right hand on Maura's waist as she placed her left hand on her hip, pushing back her blazer to reveal both badge and gun. Narrowing her eyes, she shot a nasty look to the blonde man. "You still here?"

"No," he said, slowly shaking his head. "I was just leaving."

"Thought so," Jane nodded as she watched him turn around and walk out of the aisle.

"Jane, that was a little rude." Despite the chastisement in the doctor's voice, Maura was blushing.

"Yeah, well, hitting on someone's girlfriend is pretty rude." Turning to face the other woman, Jane leaned down to place a demanding kiss on the doctor. "Mine," she growled as she pulled away.

"Oh, really?" One perfectly arched eyebrow rose in amusement. "When did you become so possessive, Jane?"

"Really?" The detective's hands rested on Maura's waist as she smirked down at the other woman. "Isn't that sort of like asking me when I started liking coffee?"

"Hmm," the doctor pretended to give it a moment's thought. "I see your point. For the record," she said as she stepped out of Jane's hold and started toward the registers, "I am not opposed to your possessiveness."

Jane grinned as she trotted to catch up with the other woman. "Yeah?"

"Yes, but," Maura stepped into the Express Line, ignoring the people who seemed to be watching them as Jane again stepped up behind her to wrap her arms around the doctor. "I would ask that you not hurt anyone just because they were trying to ask me out on a date. Well, don't hurt them physically at any rate."

Jane snorted. "But I can be _really_ sarcastic and threatening?"

"Yes, that's perfectly acceptable." Maura grinned and gave the arms around her a squeeze. "Later," her voice dropped down in volume, "I'll even show you exactly how acceptable I find it."

The detective growled, lowering her head to whisper in Maura's ear, "Day. Just. Got. Better."

* * *

><p><strong>The end draws near!<strong>


	21. Chapter 21

"I never liked Cavanaugh," Captain Jason Fletcher leaned back in his chair at the dining table and shook his head as he held the photo in his hand of Cindy. "I always thought he was narrow-minded. Figures I'd be right."

"Yeah, well, he's not the only one." Korsak shrugged. "Free country, though, but," he glanced around at the women in the room, "what's going on here isn't okay, Jason. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I got you, Vince." The captain set the photo down next to his coffee cup, careful to avoid his empty dessert plate. "All of you have put a lot of thought in this plan of yours, but are you sure Cruise is going to go for this?"

"He'll do it," Jane nodded. "Maura and I've seen him," she paused for a moment, not sure how much to say. "Captain, he'll do it."

"Man up, Rizzoli. If you want my help, now's not the time to pretend to be shy about who and what you are." Fletcher's look hardened. "What you're asking me to help you with is about equal treatment. We're cops; we're supposed to provide equal treatment, _especially_ to our own, but, if you don't tell me everything you're up to, how am I supposed to know what's what when everything goes down?"

"Woman up," Maura calmly corrected as she stood to refill and top off everyone's coffee. "The last time I checked, Jane was neither a man in anatomy or psychology." She shot the captain a perturbed look. "Would you prefer I tell you to 'woman up' the next time you need incentive to do something difficult?"

"And you put up with this?" Fletcher asked with a smile and a wink toward the female detective across the table from him.

"Yeah, well, there are benefits of dealing with that," Jane smirked in response. "Look, I see Cruise and his boyfriend at a lot of the civil rights things Maura and I go to. He's really active in the community, and he's been pushing really hard for equal rights for other states, so I think he'd be in if we needed him. I mean, I'm not really liking the idea of bringing any _more _people into this shi… erm mess, but, if we have to, Frankie's right. Cruise is our man." She glanced to Maura who gave her a nod of approval before returning to her seat beside the dark haired woman.

With an air of what some could class arrogance, Maura stated frankly, "I'm choosing to ignore your jab at me, Captain Fletcher."

"Of course," he responded with a chuckle. "It's a good plan, Rizzoli… Rizzolis?" He shook his head. "She needs out, but this is a pretty sketchy thing, honestly. We really should go through HR with this. I'm just another cop, and I don't hire and fire people. You all know that. Look," he sighed heavily as he tried to process everything. "I don't want to bring Cruise in on this. If he's as much of an activist as you say, things might backfire, and I don't think anyone wants that."

"But you can't just let her keep doing what she's doing to people," Angela snapped, ignoring Korsak's pleading look for her to be quiet. "It's not right! Just because Jane and Maura choose to be…" The look of hurt from her daughter stopped her in her tracks. Everyone was silent for a moment as the eldest Rizzoli resettled. "Just because," she started again, slower and quieter, "Jane and Maura choose to be _open_ about their relationship doesn't give Cindy or anyone else the _right_ to hurt them in any way."

Tommy stood, pacing a bit around his chair. "So, if we're not going to go with the plan, then what?"

"Seriously," Frankie added, voice tense. "I _cannot_ keep dating this chick. Every time she wants to touch me, I want to hurl on her."

"I've got some Listerine in my desk drawer. The after taste gets old," Frost deadpanned, not bothering to look up from his coffee.

"Tommy's question is valid," Maura said by way of redirecting the conversation. "What do you suggest we do, Captain?"

"Well," he looked down at the picture, "this is a good start. With the time stamp and the clear print of your ICE form in her hand, it puts her where we need her to be to nail her. I think," again he was silent as he processed. "I think it might be time to stir up HR a little. They can't deny something if it happens right under their noses with a captain, a sergeant, and the head of HR standing there watching." He glanced between the doctor and her detective. "How well do you two act?"

* * *

><p>"I love my family. I missed my family. I'm <em>so<em> glad they're gone." Jane closed the front door with a groan and quickly locked every lock on it. "I'm tired. How about you?"

"Sadly, I am, too, which is a shame," Maura frowned. She worked quickly to put away the last of the dishes as she spoke. "I really was looking forward to that promise I made you at the supermarket today."

"Oh yeah," the detective smiled as she slid behind the smaller woman and wrapped her arms around Maura. "Well, I'm not _that_ tired."

"Jane, you've been yawning and trying to not nod off for the past half hour. We're both _that_ tired." Maura turned in the lithe arms wrapped around her. "Don't worry, dear-heart, we have plenty of time for that kind of fun later. We have a big day tomorrow. We should try to get some rest, don't you think?"

"No." Jane resolutely shook her head. "I think I want you to keep your promise."

"I think you're insatiable," the doctor sighed. "I'd be upset, but I find that to be one of the qualities I rather like about you." She grinned as she leaned forward to place a kiss on Jane's waiting lips.

A devilish grin running across Jane's features, she shrugged as she pulled Maura more firmly against her. "Hey, I don't want us to catch a cold or something."

"Mmmm, it is a good thing that you're thinking of our health," the honey brunette chuckled. "Since you're so concerned about our health, that means you ought not be too upset that we make sure to get enough sleep to function. After all, sleep deprivation also contributes to a lowered immune system which can…"

"Okay, all right, point taken." Jane sighed, rolling her eyes and stepping back. "Come on, let's get ready for bed. If I can't cash in on that promise, I demand a makeout session and some cuddling."

"Cuddling?" A perfectly manicured eyebrow rose in disbelief. "Really?"

"I'm feeling a little clingy. Don't judge." Jane pulled at Maura's hand. "Come on, sweetheart, I'm tired. I just want to go bed and be some place with you that is just ours for a little bit. Okay?"

The doctor tilted her head in consideration as she allowed herself to be led to the bedroom. "Ours," she whispered to herself. "Jane," she said a bit louder, "maybe I'm not _that_ tired after all…"


	22. Chapter 22

**Sorry this is taking so long to finish.**

* * *

><p>"Get in there, Rizzoli. I'm tired of hearing you gripe." Korsak pushed the taller detective through the Human Resources door, grunting with frustration as he forced her into the small office on the upper floor of BPD.<p>

"I already told you, Korsak, I'm not talking. We have work to do. Will you," she quickly turned around, walking backwards and glaring at her ex-partner, "stop pushing me?"

Squaring his shoulders, the sergeant stared down his nose at the younger woman. "No. As your superior officer, it is my _job_ to make sure that you follow protocol, and you're going to follow protocol if it kills you. Now, go over there and tell that HR rep…"

"Man, Korsak, this is none of your business!" They were both starting to yell, and the small group of HR workers was shifting uncomfortably as they watched the scene play out from behind the chest high counter that blocked their work area off from the now feuding detectives. Jane waved her right hand in the air as if dismissing the whole proceeding while she pushed her jacket back with her left, resting her hand on the handle of her pistol. "If I don't want to turn someone in, then _you_ can't make me. I'm not a fucking stool pigeon!"

"Detectives." A voice from behind the counter called out in a strong yet calm voice. "That'll be enough."

Both detectives turned to see who had dared to interrupt their discussion-turned-argument only to find the head of BPD HR, Rosa Hernandez, watching them with a look that could only be described as quiet irritation etched into her features.

"This is the HR department, not the boxing ring in the workout room," she continued with that same authoritative but calm voice, "If the two of you have issues that need to be brought to our attention, I am more than happy to hear them and take appropriate action. However, if you're here only to argue and cause disruption to my department, I'll be forced to call in your superior."

"Rosa, you know I never come up here just to be loud." Korsak's jaw flexed as he tried to get himself under control. "I'm here because my detective needs to write up an incident report for IA. I'm sorry about the noise. We didn't mean to make you have to come out of your office."

Rosa sighed, pushing up her wire rimmed glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Sergeant Detective Korsak, as loud as the two of you were just a moment ago, I'm surprised Doctor Isles isn't up here asking you to keep it down for fear of waking up her patients."

From somewhere behind the petite woman standing directly behind the counter, a few chuckles and a snort could be heard.

"Call him. Go ahead and call Cavanaugh." Jane's still angry voice cut through the humor that was starting to lighten the room. "Hell, call the captain _and_ Maura for all I care. Call whoever in the hell you want to call because I'm not writing up a report for IA, Korsak, and you can't make me. In fact," she turned toward the detective next to her, "_you_ can kiss my…"

"Not another word, Rizzoli, before I have to write you up for inappropriate language on the job site." Rosa closed her eyes, face falling into an unreadable mask of calm as she opened them again. "Perhaps the two of you would like to step into my office? I feel we should all chat, yes?"

"No!" Jane roared, catching no one by surprise but visibly irritating her fellow detective. "I'm not 'chatting' with you, Rosa. I'm not turning in reports that are going to do jack, and I'm _not_ staying here. Korsak," she pointed a finger at him, eyes blazing, "You can call up whoever you want. I don't give a shit. The HR department is a _joke_. You know it, I know it, and…"

"Detective!" Hernandez's voice again called out, this time a thin undercurrent of tension could be detected in her otherwise calm voice. "Captain Fletcher will be up here momentarily," her jaw flexed as she took in a stream of air. As she spoke again, the undercurrent of tension had seemingly vanished. "Cathrine was kind enough to call for me while the two of you have been… talking with me. It would seem that Lieutenant Cavanaugh was unavailable. Captain Fletcher has instructed us to tell you both to remain here until the he arrives. You may either take a seat here in the waiting area, or you may come back to my office. Those are your choices. Which will it be?"

"Man, really?" Jane crossed her arms and plopped into a seat in the corner of the room.

"You could have just done what I told you to do, but no," Korsak took a seat a few chairs down from her, glaring at her as he ranted. "Why you can't treat me like the rank I am, I don't know, but, just this once, it'd be nice if you wouldn't be so insubordinate. Just because we used to be partners doesn't give you the right to just go off on me, Jane. I _am_ your superior officer, you know."

"Yeah, whatever," Jane countered, rolling her eyes.

"I would suggest," Rosa interrupted as she stepped from behind the counter to stand in front of the two officers, "that you take a moment to contemplate whatever statements you would like to make once Captain Fletcher arrives. Perhaps some quiet consideration? There's coffee in the corner. It's not top tier, but it is hot, and, Detective Rizzoli," she gave a small, knowing smirk to the lanky woman pouting in the corner, "there's plenty of sugar."

"Fine." With a grunt and a roll of her eyes, Jane stood and made her way to the coffee as the HR department head turned to return to her office.

* * *

><p>"There you are!" Maura popped her head around the door leading into the BPD HR department. "When I went up to give you this, you weren't at your desks." She stepped inside, glanced toward the counter to nod cordially to the people working behind it, and then returned her gaze back to the detectives. "Detective Frost told me you were here. Is something wrong?"<p>

"No, everything's fine," Jane grumbled from behind her coffee cup.

"We have a… what do you call it? An impromptu meeting with Captain Fletcher and Rosa Hernandez." Korsak winced at the hard look the doctor gave him. "We're waiting for Fletcher to get up here. Anyway, why are you looking for us?"

Maura handed a folder over to Korsak. "I have the results of your current case," she said, voice normal. "I believe you may want to look at the information, so I brought it to you rather than waiting until Jane came down for lunch."

"Thanks, Doc," he took the folder, opened it, nodded, closed it, and handed it to Jane. "Where are you two going to lunch anyway? Can Frost and I go, or is this one of those working lunches where you come back hungrier than when you left?" He winked.

From behind the counter, someone made a gaging sound.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Korsak, really? You know Maura is a professional. We don't do shit like that when we're on the clock."

"That's correct," Maura nodded. "While on duty, we don't participate in any activity that would hinder us should our services be needed by the department. The rule book is very clear on the expectations of behavior by those who work for the Boston Police Department, and you know I value rules as they are there for a good reason."

"As long as nothing's going on in your office that makes me not want to touch anything, Doc, I'm pretty sure _that_ isn't something BPD says you can't do on your lunch break," the older man smirked. "I mean, if I were Jane… or you… I don't think I'd have any other kind of lunch _but_…"

At both Maura and Jane's hard looks, he stopped talking and cleared his throat. "I just mean… well… you two make a good couple, that's all. I'm glad you finally figured it all out."

From behind the counter, someone groaned.

"Strong relationships take time, Vince, but thank you. I'm very glad Jane figured it out as well." Maura smiled, winking at the other woman.

"Are you teasing me?" Jane chuckled. "I think I'm starting to rub off on you, sweetheart."

"I should hope not. Your fashion sense is atrocious! Speaking of," the doctor said, not bothering to let her detective counter what she'd just said regarding her choice in clothing, "I've an appointed this Saturday with James, my tailor."

"Okay, how long are you going to be gone? Jo and I can go take a run or something," Jane pulled out her phone to make a note on the calendar.

"Not for me, dear-heart. For you." Maura's eyes twinkled with delight and mischief. "I've bought eight suits for you from a few of the designers that I feel have the best cut for your frame, and I've also purchased ten different shirts that can be used between the various suits. James is coming to our house to measure you and the clothing."

"I don't suppose there's a way to get out of this?" Jane's voice was flat, eyes already full of defeat.

"No, I think not," the honey brunette's smile grew.

"You are _so_ whipped, Rizzoli," Korsak chuckled.

From behind the counter, someone stood up and walked forward to stand directly behind the desk.

Cynthia Boyle cleared her throat, eyes dark with clear anger and irritation. "Doctor Isles, is there a reason you're here?" Her voice was sharp, cutting through the light mood the detectives and doctor had created. "Is there something we can help you with?"

Flustered, Maura turned to address the HR representative. "Well, no. I came to see the detectives to give them some paperwork."

"I see." Cindy's eyes narrowed. "As you know, they are waiting on Captain Fletcher to arrive, but I'm sure you have pressing business elsewhere. Surely," she said, her voice becoming harsher as she spoke, "you have something that requires your attention?"

"Jane always requires my attention," Maura answered with just as much sharpness in her voice. "And I don't appreciate you questioning my time management abilities, Miss Boyle. I have more than proven myself to be one of the top professionals in my field. I did not gain that respect by shirking my duties. Your implications are unwarranted and unwelcome as the detectives and I weren't disrupting anyone."

"I would disagree with that statement," Boyle countered, glancing back to the bullpen behind her to find one pair of eyes watching and agreeing with her while the rest remained with their head down. "You were disrupting me and my colleagues."

"Is that so?" Maura stepped closer to the counter. Jane stood following a few steps behind her and remaining there while Korsak simply stood up. "How were we disturbing you, may I ask? Our noise level was within appropriate levels for this social setting. There was no rudeness that required an HR representative's immediate attention in our conversation; all parties were speaking amicably. None of our subject matter was any more or less offensive than what is generally normal for the atmosphere of the Boston Police Department, so how were we being disruptive?"

"Your subject matter was offensive, and I think it best you should know that complaints have been lodged against you regarding your habit of discussing such offensive subject matter," Cindy counter, eyes growing dark with threat. "We do not tolerate inappropriate behavior here, Doctor Isles."

Clearly offended, Marua's hand went to her chest as her voice went up a notch. "When have I ever," she said, growing angrier by the moment, "been anything but appropriate while on the job? That is… its just…"

"Maura," Jane reached forward to place a hand on the smaller woman's shoulder. "Let it go."

"No," the doctor shook her shoulder, pulling free of the touch as she stared down Cindy.

"I would ask," the HR representative continued on, "that you began to act in a more professional manner or I'll be forced to bring these complaints up to Ms. Hernandez, who will have no choice but to bring you both up on disciplinary charges. There are simply too many complaints for her to do otherwise."

"Are you threatening us?" Maura dropped her arm, and her hands balled into fists at her side. "How dare you. How dare you threaten us or even presume to call us unprofessional. I am nothing _but_ professional while within the parameters of my job, which, Miss Boyle, I will repeat I do better than most in my field. You have no right to threaten me or to question my professionalism."

Korsak cleared his throat. "Doc, maybe we should…"

Not taking her eyes from the woman across the counter, Maura called out loudly, "No, Vince. I refuse to be treated this way. You, Miss Boyle, have crossed the line. If there are as many complaints about our 'unprofessional' behavior as you claim, why is the first we've heard of it? There are rules, steps in place, so that we are warned of impending issues prior to disciplinary action taking place. What _you_ are threatening is what is unprofessional. I _demand_ to speak to Rosa Hernandez right now."

"She's indisposed until Captain Fletcher arrives," Cindy replied dryly.

"Bullshit!" Jane spat out. "Man, why the hell aren't the rest of you saying something, huh? You know this is all a bunch of BS. Come on, you're supposed to stand up for our rights here." She called out to the people at their desks who still refused to look up.

"Seniority, Detective. They know who they have to answer to when you leave, and you _will_ be leaving soon." Cindy's face turned into a sneer. "One way or another."

"What did you say?" Jane stepped up to stand beside the honey brunette. "Did you just threaten our jobs?"

"I am simply saying," Boyle replied, an air of arrogance wafting off of her, "that, when someone has as many complaints about their conduct as you and Doctor Isles have, it's difficult for any department to justify keeping you on the payroll despite how talented you may be at your job."

"You can't _do_ that!" The lanky brunette's eyes grew wide with anger and frustration as she turned behind her to look at the man standing just a few feet away. "Korsak, do you hear this woman?"

"Yeah, I heard her." He said as he stepped closer. "You're a piece of work, Boyle, you know that? You and Cavanaugh both. You know, just because these two women are dating each other doesn't mean it gives you the right to threaten their jobs."

"I never said their jobs were in jeopardy because they were lesbians dating each other," Cindy replied coyly. "I said that the number of complaints about them currently sitting on my desk would have them in disciplinary hearings if they continued to act the way they do in public."

"What do you mean by that?" His eyes narrowed. "They're nothing but…"

"Professional. Yes, I've heard Doctor Isles already on that subject, but I have enough complaint forms to prove otherwise." Cindy chuckled. "It's my word and those forms versus your word."

"Those forms," he gave a disgusted grunt. "That's what started this anyway. Cavanaugh had the doc's ICE form. I don't even know how he," Korsak's eyes went wide for a moment. "What did you do, Cynthia? Huh? You pushing around private info on us to our superiors when you don't like what we do on our free time? Who do you think you are? Where do you get off giving our personal information over to someone else? You're supposed to be working to protect our rights and do what's best for BPD, not pushing some messed up agenda."

"I give information to the appropriate people when I think that information is pertinent to them maintaining order within the departments," Cindy snapped, losing her cool. "I do what I feel I have to do in order to do what's best for BPD."

"Including giving Maura's ICE form to my lieutenant?" Jane snapped.

"You call us unprofessional!" Maura added.

"This is unbelievable!" Korsak shouted.

"He needed to know!" Cynthia snapped back. "He needed to know what kind of corruption was going on with his detective and the Chief Medical Examiner."

Jane growled. "_Corruption? _What the fu…"

"Yes, you heard me. I said corruption. What you and Maura Isles are doing is as corrupt as it gets, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Your family does, too. That's why they haven't spoken to you since you 'came out'. Everyone in BPD knows all the drama going on with the Rizzoli family, and I've been dating Frankie for over a month now. I know what they think about you and your little _girlfriend_ here. It _is_ a corruption, and corruption only leads to more corruption. Someone has to put a stop to it before the whole police force is drawn down!"

"I could not agree more, Miss Boyle." Rosa Hernandez's voice carried over the fray. "What do you think, Captain Fletcher?"

Stepping from behind Rosa's door, the captain answered quietly, "I think Miss Boyle, the detectives, and the doctor should step in here so we can all talk."

"Yes," Rosa nodded her head in the affirmative. "Why don't we all chat? Cathrine," she looked over to one of the HR workers who still had her head down at her desk, "gather all the documents on top of Miss Boyle's desk and cross check them with our internal database while we chat. The rest of you, take an early lunch. You've earned it, thank you. Oh, and Charles?" The man who had nodded his head yes during Cynthia's rant stopped abruptly from his exit route. "We'll chat later this afternoon."

"Of course, Miss Hernandez," he visibly winced before making a hasty retreat out of the office.

"In my office, Cynthia. Now." Rosa nodded her head for the rest to follow. "Cathrine, take a message for me if anyone calls. I'm unavailable until this meeting is over. I'll buy you lunch today for drawing the short straw, okay?"

"It's okay, Rosa. I'm just glad we finally boxed her in." The young woman grinned. "I never liked her anyway."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Knock once you've gotten the results from the database search." With a small smirk of acknowledgment at the delight Cathrine showed in taking Cynthia down, Rosa turned to enter her office and close the door with a gentle click. Looking about the room before striding to her desk to take her chair, she said in an eerily even toned voice, "Everyone take a seat, please. I feel this will be a long conversation."

* * *

><p><strong>I think I have two, maybe three, more chapters to do. What your thoughts here regarding this confrontation?<strong>


	23. Chapter 23

The HR Department Head's office was smaller than the Chief Medical Examiner's office but larger than most offices in the building. One large, L-shaped desk sat at the back of the office in front of floor to ceiling windows that covered the back wall. It was organized, clean, and, though it was clear that a lot of work needed to be done and had been done just in that morning based on the neatly stacked piles of folders, nothing seemed to overwhelm the desk as a whole. With the computer in the corner of the L-shape, both sides of the desk were perfectly balanced full of various items. Over all, Rosa Hernandez's desk had a weird feeling of balance and control despite all of the chaos that constantly happened within her department. It was a perfect representation of the woman herself.

Rosa calmly seated herself behind her desk and took note of where everyone else had decided to settle.

In front of the desk were three guest chairs. Against the wall by the door and behind the chairs were a lone sofa, an end table, and a lounge chair that all looked dated but clean and well kept. If one were to take a guess, they were likely purchased in the 1960s. The walls were once white but lightly yellowed with age, and lovely framed and matted black and white landscapes brought the eye away from the walls and distracted from the obvious age of the office and the items in it.

As Jane leaned against the wall closest to the guest chair in which Maura had taken up residence, she tried to avoid the pictures and the weird sense of unease the office gave her. Living with the doctor had allowed her to become accustomed to a higher level of organization, but Maura's organized life was warm and welcoming. This office had a cold, clinical feel to it almost despite itself. The detective gave a shiver, shifted against the wall, and wrapped her arms around herself.

Maura nodded a hello to Rosa as she shifted to cross her legs and lean a bit closer to her detective. Glancing around the room, she took note of Cynthia Boyle occupying the chair on the opposite end of the row of three. The chair between them remained empty despite the two men in the room who could have occupied it. The doctor frowned and turned to find the men in question. Captain Fletcher had followed Rosa to her desk and was now standing beside her and behind the desk. Korsak leaned against the wall across from Jane and directly beside Cindy. He mirrored the younger detective's stance, though his arms were crossed as opposed to wrapped around himself. It felt as if the detectives were keep guard over the proceedings, and Maura had to mentally kick herself to keep from chuckling at the thought. A giggle during something as serious as this meeting would not do. Instead, she shifted again to move the chair slightly closer to Jane and angle it to get a better view of both Rosa and Captain Fletcher as well as Cindy and Korsak.

* * *

><p>Breaking the tense silence in the room with what was clearly her trademark calm yet authoritative voice, Rosa began, "Ms. Boyle, would you like to start with an explanation?"<p>

The younger woman crossed her arms, shaking her head at her supervisor as she spoke, "An explanation for what, exactly?"

"For starters," Captain Fletcher reached for the folder in Jane's hand that Maura had brought in. Taking it, he opened it to a photo of Cindy carrying Maura's ICE form to Cavanaugh, "You can start by explaining why you broke protocol."

She glanced down at the photo and paled. "That proves nothing but that I had that piece of paper with me while running errands." She set her jaw, lips thinning.

"Captain Fletcher, as we discussed earlier," Hernandez broke into what was starting to feel slightly like an interrogation, "employees of the department cannot be questioned for disciplinary action in front of other employees. Its supervisors and the employee in question only for those types of conversations, Captain. You know this. Please don't force me to write us all up on infractions." She reached forward to take the folder, closed it, and placed on top of a small stack of paperwork in the center of one side of her desk. "When I asked if you'd like to explain, Ms. Boyle, I was giving you a courtesy. Needless-to-say, you and I will be chatting once everyone else leaves my office." She glanced around at the assembled people.

"That said, you are all in here so that we can make certain we're all on the same page. My department employees have already heard this speech, but I need to make certain all of you hear it as well and agree to the rules I'm about to set in place." She took in a deep breath. "First of all, I should hope that it goes without saying that nothing regarding this situation is to go beyond these walls. I know this precinct has a tendency to gossip, but this situation is strictly confidential. If I had known this was going on earlier, I would have dealt with it sooner."

"You trying to cover this up or what?" The words were out of Jane's mouth before she could stop herself.

"Jane," Maura murmured quietly, wanting to make certain the lanky brunette wasn't about to go off on a rant.

"Not at all, Detective." Rosa gave a nod to the doctor to reassure her that nothing was about to happen. "I simply want to keep a handle on things because, once the dust settles, there will be some very unhappy people. I'd much prefer to have everyone go through one point of contact regarding this situation. In this case, that would be me. I'm handling this issue personally and proposing procedures and disciplinary action to ensure this doesn't occur again. I don't support what's happened here." She glanced to Cindy, eyes narrowing. "Clearly my trust in the system was misplaced. It will not happen again."

"So why are we here, Rosa?" Korsak pushed off of the wall to turn more toward the desk. "You don't have to tell us to keep our mouths shut. None of us wanted to deal with this in the first place."

"We're here so everyone hears the same thing, Vince. Now be quiet so she can finish," Fletcher snapped, crossing his arms and glowering at the young HR worker quietly seething in her seat.

Korsak fell back against the wall. "Fine."

"Cathrine is going through the documents claiming complaint of your behavior right now as we speak," Rosa turned her attention fully to Jane and Maura. "If any of the documents are actually valid, I'll speak with you personally regarding those matters."

"There's one in there from Crowe that's legit," Jane said, smirking a little. "I really did tell him to stop ogling my girlfriend's ass or I'd shoot his balls off. I feel it was justified."

Rose coughed, covering her mouth with one hand even as her eyes seemed to brighten for a moment. "Excuse me, and so noted."

"Was there something else?" Maura tried to redirect. "You seemed to indicate there was something else you wanted to make certain we were all aware of."

"Yes, Doctor Isles, there is one other thing." Rosa opened a desk drawer and pulled out yet another folder. Flipping through it, she seemed irritated for a brief moment before pulling out a sheet of paper and looking at it thoughtfully. "Captain Fletcher gave me a detailed report of the account all of you," she glanced to Cindy, "minus Ms. Boyle, of course, gave to him last night. I would like you to note that any internal family drama that results from this matter be handled off precinct property." She replaced the paper and put the folder back into its place inside the drawer before closing it. "As much as I and many others would love to see those events unfold, it would be best to do that away from the prying eyes of those who aren't on the same side as you are. You understand, I'm sure?"

"Yes, perfectly." Maura nodded her head in the affirmative.

"I… what?" Jane's frown hardened. "Maura, what are you two talking about?"

"I'll explain later, dear-heart. Suffice it to say, Rosa makes a very valid point, and I'll make certain the message is received by all parties." The doctor reached over to place a hand on Jane's still crossed arms. "It will be fine."

"Thank you, Doctor. As always, I appreciate your ability to catch the minute details of discretion," Rosa gave a small smile.

"Of course," Maura returned the smile.

Korsak gave a sigh, rolling his eyes at the weird exchange. "Anything else, or is it time to leave you to it, Rosa?"

"That will be all." Hernandez glanced around to the people in the room. "Detectives, Doctor, I hope the remainder of your day goes smoothly."

"Yeah, thanks," Jane grunted as she offered Maura her hand to stand. "Korsak…"

"Have a good lunch," he said as he opened the door. "Doc, tell me how that talk goes, okay? I think I got what you two were saying."

"I will," Maura nodded as she and Jane stepped outside the office with Korsak following behind to the sound of Rosa Hernandez addressing Cynthia Boyle.

"Cindy, I must say," Rosa's voice floated quietly out of the quickly closing gap between the door and frame, "that when I told my wife this morning that I felt today was going to be more trying than the norm…"

* * *

><p><strong>I suppose everyone wants to see that family confrontation, right?<strong>


	24. Chapter 24

"I'm sorry, your who?" Cynthia interrupted as her eyes snapped up from the piece of paper the other woman had just handed her.

Rosa paused, glancing toward the Captain still standing beside her before turning back to Boyle. "My wife. Surely you've heard me mention my marriage before?"

The young woman blinked rapidly as she spoke, trying to make sense of things. "You've said you've been married for seven years, and you've talked about your spouse's obsession with Star Trek, but you never said he was a she. I mean, you've never…"

"Been specific on gender, and Pat's name is a little misleading, I'm afraid. Pat is short for Patricia. I apologize for the confusion. As you know," Rosa motioned with her hand to her surroundings, "I'm a strong believer of keeping your personal life and professional life a separate as one is able. It prevents unneeded complications."

Cindy's voice was small as she spoke more to herself than the others in the room, "In the three years I've worked here, you've always just said 'my spouse'. We all just thought you were super PC."

Rosa smiled, the expression not quite reaching her eyes. "Well, I'm that as well."

"Not that any of that matters," Fletcher said as he pointed to the sheet of paper Cindy was griping with one hand. "We're not here to discuss Rosa's marriage. We're here to discuss your behavior."

Reluctantly, Cynthia looked down at the paper in her hand, eyes skimming it. "This is a report of my activity over the past year and a half."

"Yes, and you'll note that I've personally cross checked every complaint you've processed, which was quite the daunting task this morning, I assure you." Hernandez nodded her head toward the large stack of folders neatly piled on her desk. "Forty-five percent of the processed complaint forms you've turned in have been false, unjustified, or unwarranted. How this has gotten past our internal check and balance system was beyond me until I realized you had a coconspirator in this activity of yours."

"We'll be _chatting_ with him once he returns form lunch," Fletcher said in a matter-of-fact voice as he set his paper down. "In the meantime, we've had to decide what to do with you, Miss Boyle."

"I have rights." Cindy said, sitting straighter in her chair. "According to the rules and regulations of the department, I am afforded the right to argue to save my job in front of a panel of my superiors. While I wait for that panel to convene, I may be put on administrative leave with or without pay, depending."

"While true for multiple minor infractions," Rosa replied, face and voice neutral, "such is not the case for major infractions. The rules and regulations are very specific on this matter, Ms. Boyle. Per our handbook, major infractions may be defined as any major and/or catastrophic incident relating to but not limited to discrimination based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and/or age in which said discrimination causes disruption to the inner workings of the Boston Police Department and/or mental and/or physical harassment to BPD employees, staff, and contractors and may be used as just cause for immediate dismissal."

Cindy sputtered. "You can't be serious."

"You and your friends set up a major conspiracy plot against any person here you thought might be anything but heterosexual to force them to either quit or ensure they were fired." The captain's eyes narrowed. "I think that justifiably qualifies as a major incident relating to discrimination based on sexual orientation. Don't you, Mrs. Hernandez?"

"According to both my superiors and me, yes, it does qualify, Captain." With an oddly casual air, Rosa picked up another sheet of paper from her desk and turned it to face Cindy. "Please sign below. I've a copy for you to take with you for your records. It is on your desk. Captain Fletcher will escort you from the building once you've packed your personal belongings. There should be a few boxes by your desk for the purpose. Your last check will be mailed to you. If you've any further questions regarding your dismissal from BPD," Rosa smiled and this time her eyes gleamed with a small amount of visible delight, "You know what to do."

Dumbfounded, angry, and slightly confused, Cindy sat and stared at the paper before stiffly taking the pen her now former supervisor held for her and signing the dismissal paperwork.

"Before you leave," Hernandez said as she took both pen and paper, "you have the right to say anything to me you'd like for it to be noted in our records. Captain Fletcher is here to be a witness to these events as a third party. You may speak if you so wish."

Cindy grunted, nodding to herself before starting, "You're all nuts. With _you _as the department head, no wonder no one can see the moral corruption going on here!" She rolled her eyes, leaning forward in her chair. "You're one of _them. _It's disgusting, what you do."

"What I _do,_ Ms. Boyle," the older woman replied as she adjusted her glasses on her nose, "is try very hard to ensure that everyone in BPD is given fair and equal treatment under the rules and regulations set forth by our government and from within the department. What I _do _outside of my job is of no consequence to anyone but myself and those involved in my life outside of these walls."

"You really believe that? What a load. Everything you do, every decision you make is colored by the corruption you've brought into your life by living how you live. You're an abomination, and I'm glad I'm not working for you anymore. I don't think I could anyway knowing the life you choose to live every day. It disgusts me." Cindy pointed a finger at the woman across from her. "_You_ disgust me."

"Do you know what disgusts me, Ms. Boyle?" Rosa began with her trademark calm. "What disgusts me are people too poor to afford food for their children while there are others so rich they can afford thousand dollar bottles of wine who do nothing to help those in need. I am disgusted by the unnecessary pollution in our world because those who can do something won't do something due to laziness and greed. I am disgusted by the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives that are lost every minute with excuses for those lost lives made by way of citing religious and/or political dogma. I am disgusted, Ms. Boyle," she said, her voice going slightly lower with a weariness that only comes from having to deal with something for a lifetime, "by people such as yourself who cannot see the importance of loving and supporting your neighbor because you are too busy hating to bother trying to understand them. Jesus said to love your neighbor, not judge them. To do otherwise is, in my opinion, the most disgusting thing of all."

Abruptly standing up, Cynthia kicked her chair back, and growled at the other woman still seated calmly behind the desk. Pointing a finger, she snapped back, "Bite me."

Quirking one eyebrow, Rosa replied, "Though I appreciate the offer, I'm afraid I much prefer Pat, thank you."

Between the laughter escaping the captain and the clicking of the keyboard as Rosa began to file the final forms for the dismissal, one could almost hear the exasperated growl and cursing of the newly fired HR representative.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so you are you going to tell me what the crap you and Hernandez were talking about or what?" Jane demanded before taking a large bite of burger.<p>

"Yes," Maura answered with a hint of annoyance as she dressed her salad. "Rosa told us that, when Frankie ends his relationship, if it can be called that, with Cindy, we are to make certain it doesn't happen on precinct grounds."

"Oh," the detective answered through burger. She quickly chewed and swallowed. "I can text him about it right now. I bet he's going to be thrilled. I think he really hates her."

"Yes, it might be best to warn him." Smiling, the doctor pointed to something behind Jane, who turned to look, saw nothing, and turned back around to find Maura munching on a fry.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Nice."

The honey brunette winked as she spoke between bites of fry. "She'll most likely go to him after she's dismissed from her position. He should know that everything has happened as we planned it."

"Yeah, okay." Jane wiped her hands, pulled her phone out, and began texting. "He says he gets it and," she scrolled, "he's going to break it off tonight at _our place_?" An eyebrow rose. "Really? No." Jane began to text again. "He says he wants backup and the whole family doesn't fit well into anyone's apartment, and our house is big enough for everyone **and** the drama."

"Hmm," Maura considered that thought for a moment. "He's probably right. Tell him we'll have dinner ready by 7."

"Maura, no. This our _home _we're talking about here, not some tv sound stage built to house crazy family antics. It's where we're supposed to be able to go to get _away_ from crazy family antics." The detective sighed. "Can't he do it at Ma's? I mean, I _know _it can hold all of us."

"No, Jane, Frankie is right. It should be at… _our _…house. It is where the family gathers for business, and I think a show of solidarity in the very home of the two women she thinks the other Rizzoli family members are snubbing will further accentuate the point that she was completely in the wrong." The doctor gave a satisfied smirk at the thought.

Jane narrowed her eyes. "Why did you say it like that?"

Maura shook her head, confused. "Say what like what?"

"You said, 'It should be at… _our _…house.' But there was this weird pause thing. Why?" Jane took another bite of burger and waited.

The doctor frowned, pushing her barely eaten salad away from her. "Well, I… Jane, how long have you thought of it as 'our home' as opposed to it being my house?"

"I don't know," Jane shrugged. "I guess since you tricked me, and you did, into moving in with you. Not that I'm complaining. I mean, I've really liked living with you, sweetie. I just … did I cross a line?"

"No, in fact, I like that you think of it as our house, our home. But, I can't help but wonder," Maura tilted her head as she spoke, "Now that everything has resettled, does this mean you'll move back to your apartment, or are you going to remain with me?"

"Maura," Jane said, wiping her hands and reaching to capture the doctor's right in her left, "I don't want to leave. But, if you want me to go…"

"Stay." Giving a squeeze to the hand that held hers, Maura's face light up. "I want you to if you want to."

Jane nodded, "Okay, now that that's settled," she pulled her hand away to pick her burger up again, "I think we should talk about the swimming pool in the backyard."

Maura shook her head, "What swimming pool? Dear-heart, we don't have a swimming pool in the backyard."

Smirking, the detective replied, "Exactly."

* * *

><p><strong>I know I said one or two more chapters last time, but I really mean it this time. One or two more...<strong>


	25. Chapter 25

"I really just want to order a pizza, grab some drinks from the store, and go home. Cuddling on the couch is a lot better than what we're actually going to do tonight." Jane huffed as she opened the driver's side of the Prius and slid behind the wheel.

"That does sound appealing," Maura agreed, clicking her seatbelt into place. "We don't have to cook, Jane. I could call Amelia and have her bring something over for us. What about," the doctor ran through a mental list of possible dinners, "Italian?"

"Sweetie, I know how much you love Italians," the detective grinned, not bothering to see the reaction from her girlfriend but instead focusing her eyes on the road, "but I'm not really in the mood. What about lamb of some kind? Turkish?"

"Oh, that sounds lovely. We could have her make various kebobs, hummus with a vegetable platter for an appetizer, and, of course, prepare some traditional side dishes. Let me just call her." The doctor pulled her phone out to scroll for the number.

"Maura," Jane turned to the woman next to her as the car came to a stop at a red light. "Are we really calling a personal chef to bring us dinner because we don't feel like cooking or ordering out?"

Blinking, the honey brunette stopped looking at her phone's screen to look at the detective. "You'd rather we order pizza? I thought you weren't in the mood for Italian. Although," she tilted her head in consideration, "pizza isn't technically Italian. It is actually more of a…"

"No, I just mean… look, three months ago I didn't even know who Amelia was. I think," Jane turned her eyes back to the road, "I'm getting too comfortable with your money. I don't like that."

"It's mine to share, Jane, and I want to share it with you. Besides, there's little difference in cost between paying Amelia to cook for us and us going out to a nice restaurant. You paid for such a thing last week when we went on our date. This is simply me taking my turn." Maura frowned. "I don't want money to be an issue between us. We've been doing so well thus far about it."

"Well, yeah, but that's only because I demanded you let me at least pay a few of the utility bills since I'm living with you. I don't like feeling like I'm not pulling my own weight, and a lot of the stuff we do I would never be able to afford on my salary. I mean," Jane glanced down at herself and quickly back up to the road, "this suit costs more than three of my paychecks, Maura. _Three._"

Maura sighed, trying to comprehend what was happening. "I don't understand. Are you angry, upset, uncomfortable, or something else? I don't know what to say here, Jane."

"I'm… I don't want you to think that I'm only sticking around for thousand dollar suits, I guess. I don't know." The detective shrugged. "You know that I'd be happy with you if we were living in my apartment off my salary alone, right? I mean, it's not your money I want to be with."

"I know that, dear-heart. If it was, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation because I would never have dated you let alone befriended you. If you're concerned that I would ever think you're with me for my money, don't be. I know where your heart is." Maura tapped the screen of her phone. "I'm calling Amelia. I'm also telling her to bring a light dessert. We'll chill some ice wine when we get home, change into something comfortable, and cuddle on the sofa until everyone arrives. How does that sound?"

"It's the best plan I've heard in months." Jane gave a weak smile and nodded her approval.

* * *

><p>"That smells great, Amelia. One of these days, you're going to have to teach Maura how to make this stuff," Jane quipped with a smile as she finished off a glass of water.<p>

"I already know how to make this, Jane. However, perhaps Amelia could teach you? Something other than burnt toast and scrambled eggs should really be on your list of recipes you're able to prepare, don't you think?" Maura winked at the chef and walked out of the kitchen to the sofa. "Coming?"

"Yeah, sweetie, I'm coming." The detective sighed, gave a heavy look to the still quietly cooking chef, and then quickly made her way to the sofa. "Are you going to make me watch one of those documentaries again? The last one grossed me out for a week."

"I was thinking NCIS, actually." The doctor sat down and then laid across the cushions so that her back rested against the back of the sofa. "How does that sound?"

"You want something later, don't you?" Jane's eyes narrowed for a moment. Giving her girlfriend a suspicious look, she lay down parallel to the other woman, settling in and sighing as Maura pulled her closer and then turned the television on.

"Don't TMI me. Remember, I'm still here!" Amelia called from the kitchen.

A deep raspy reply floated from over the back of the sofa, "You're safe. Maura's not the exhibitionist everyone thinks she is!"

"Jane!"

Amelia chuckled as she heard the detective feign hurt after hearing a small smacking sound. "I don't think I'll be done before everyone shows up. There's just not enough time, but I've got the appetizers ready, and, assuming I'm not distracted by the NCIS episode, everything else ought to be done by 7, per your orders, Doctor Isles."

"Perfect, thank you, Amelia." Maura's voice sounded pleased.

"No problem, ma'am. I always enjoy cooking for the two of you. It's nice to work with people as pleasant of a couple as you are." The chef chuckled. "And warm and funny, too."

"Thanks," Jane's voice was slightly tense, "I think. Okay, everyone be quiet. Agent Todd just hit the screen."

* * *

><p>"Amelia! I didn't know you were going to be cooking tonight," Angela's boisterous voice held all the joy of seeing the familiar woman still cooking away in the Rizzoli-Isles kitchen.<p>

"It was last minute." The chef nodded toward the sofa. "I think they're asleep. You want to keep me company? We're doing Turkish tonight."

"Oh, yes, let me just put up my coat and purse and check on the girls." The older woman smiled brightly and turned to the sofa. Silently walking to the back of the piece of furniture, she leaned over and her smiled turned soft. Looking back over her shoulder, she nodded and mouthed 'so cute' as she pointed down at the slumbering couple. The chef grinned and nodded in return.

After putting her things away and sitting down at the island and out of the way of the chef, Angela gave a sigh and nod of thanks for the glass of water waiting for her. "I've missed them."

"I don't know details," Amelia stated quickly. "I don't want to know. I'm just glad to see you back over here." She placed a small plate full of freshly cut vegetables and hummus in front of the other woman.

"Me too," Angela said before taking a bite of hummus covered carrot. "I wasn't sure I could ever really handle them … you know …together, but I'm starting to have problems picturing them with anyone else, honestly."

"I can't believe you'd ever have problems with them being a couple! I mean, when I first started cooking for Doctor Isles, I thought they were already dating. You can imagine my surprise when I came over one night, and she had some guy surgeon here that she was apparently dating. I almost flipped out on her and asked her what she was doing cheating on Jane. Oh, it was so embarrassing!" The chef blushed at the memory. "I'm just glad she's a forgiving soul."

"Maura's a good girl," the other woman nodded, lost in her thoughts. "So is my Janie. I guess it really doesn't matter that they're both… what they are."

"Hey," Amelia said gently, putting down her knife to reach over and place a hand on Angela's arm, "the first step is to acknowledge it's who a person feels love for and not what their chromosomes are that dictates who a person should date. It's a long road, ma'am, but I know you'll get there." She pulled her hand away to pick the knife up again. "You're already walking it, aren't you?"

Angela sighed. "Yeah, one very slow step at a time."

* * *

><p>"Okay, Frankie and Cindy should be here in about half an hour." Tommy glanced over to the sofa. "You think we should wake them up? I mean, you know how Maura is about not looking like a slacker when there are people over."<p>

"I just hate to do it. They look so peaceful!" Angela stared at the back of the sofa. "But I guess we should." Standing and holding her hand up to her youngest who had jumped from his seat, she said sternly, "_I'll _do it. I don't want a fight just before we have to deal with this Cynthia Boyle mess."

"Yeah, fine." Tommy slouched on his stool. "So, Amelia, what is this white stuff?"

Angela let the two in the kitchen talk as she walked around the sofa to kneel in front of the two sleeping women. For a moment, she watched them. Jane was as relaxed as she had ever remembered seeing her. Even in sleep, her oldest normally held a scowl, but right now, she simply looked peaceful. Maura looked content, and, though it surprised the older woman to see honey brunette holding her daughter and not the other way around, it made a certain amount of sense. Maura was a giver and protector, and her Janie needed that shelter even if she didn't always want to admit that.

Smiling gently, the elder Rizzoli reached a tentative hand out to touch first her daughter's face and then Maura's. "Girls," she said softly, not wanting to startle them as she moved back and forth between them trying to gently wake them up, "You need to wake up. Frankie'll be here in half an hour."

A growl and little smack escaped her daughter, "Ma?" She opened one eye, confusion on her face. "How long have you been here?"

"About an hour," her mother replied, smiling growing brighter.

"Angela," Maura covered her mouth as she yawned, "you should have woken us. I'm sorry. We didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's okay. I'm pretty sure you two are tired. You work so hard, and this whole thing's been really stressful." Angela stood, looking down at the women who were slowly waking up and untangling from each other. "Amelia's almost done with dinner, Tommy's here, and I let Jo outside about 20 minutes ago."

"Thanks, Ma," Jane stood up and kissed her mother on the cheek. "I'm going to go take a per…" she stopped talking and glanced down at a smirking doctor. "Yeah, excuse me, I'll be back in a few. I need to hit the little girl's room."

"I think I'd like to freshen up, too," Maura checked herself and frowned. "Wrinkles… I think I may change." She stood, smiling at the older woman. "Thank you for waking us up."

"No problem. You two go take care of things. I've got everything under control here." Angela walked back to the kitchen to take her seat again.

"Of course you do," Jane muttered as she exited the area.

A chuckle and then Maura's voice floated back from down the hall, "Thank you, Angela."

* * *

><p>"Frankie, I'm really not in the mood. Can't we do this some other night? I mean, I just got fired and…"<p>

"Cindy, I made these plans before all of this, and I can't push it back. Look, just meet me at this address, okay? It's at a friend's house, and they're expecting us." Frankie handed a slip of paper over. "I have to do a couple of things for work, but I should be there when you get there. Dress comfortably. I'm wearing jeans and a shirt. Don't go in until I get there if I'm not there when you get there."

Cindy whined, rolling her eyes as she took the piece of paper. "Why can't I just ride with you?"

"Because you can't go where I'm going, especially now. It's work related, babe, okay?" Frankie grabbed his keys, and ran his eyes around her apartment as if looking for something. "You still have my ball shirt and Sox cap?"

"No, you grabbed those a couple of days ago. I don't think you have anything over here right now." Cindy slumped further down in her seat. "I was kind of hoping you'd forget a shirt or something at least. Frankie, why don't we ever…"

"You're not starting this again, are you? I already told you that I didn't want to sleep with another woman until I was married. You said you were fine with that, remember?" He crossed his arms, barely containing a shudder.

"Yeah, I know, but you could at least spend the night and cuddle. I promise I know how to keep my hands to myself," she gave him her best flirtatious smile.

"I'll think about it," he said a little too quickly. "Look, I've got to go. You good with finding this place on your own?"

"Yeah," she looked down at the hand written address, "I'll just plug it into my GPS."

"Great," without so much as a goodbye kiss, he headed for the front door, "I'll see you there. Later." With that, he made his exit.

"Bye," she said, voice brittle and distressed at Frankie's indifference.


	26. Chapter 26

"Frankie, who lives here?" Cindy stepped out of her car as he walked up to the driver's side after stepping out of his own.

"I told you, a friend of mine." He stood, waiting for her to get completely out, hands in his pockets and look of impatience on his face.

She glanced around the neighborhood. As she closed her car door, her eyes moved over the other vehicles in the driveway of the clearly very expensive home. Frowning deeply, she turned around to lean against her car, crossing her arms as she did so. "What friend?"

"Cindy, can we go inside? It's getting late, and they're waiting on us." He groaned, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not going in there, Frankie. You either tell me who owns this place," she made a motion with her head toward the house, "or I leave you here alone, and you can just deal with whatever's happening in there on your own."

For a long, tense moment, they stared at each. Finally, Frankie nodded, eyes still set on the woman a few feet in front of him. "You really want to know?"

"Yeah I really want to know. I'm about to go in there, and I have no clue who else is there, but I'm not stupid, Frankie. I know that car." She pointed to the Prius sitting quietly in the drive. "Maura Isles is in there, and, where there's Isles, there's Jane Rizzoli." She gave a smug smile at his look of surprise. "Start talking."

"Okay," he slowly pulled his hands out of his pockets and adjust his stance, squaring his shoulders. "I'll tell you who is in there: Ma, Tommy, Jane, and Maura."

"What they hell? Why are we about to go in there and be around those homofreaks? They _just_ cost me my job, and… this doesn't make any sense! Your family disowned Jane for how she's acting. _Why_ would you be here in… what? This is Maura's house isn't? Why the hell is your family all meeting up at _Maura Isles's_ house?" Anger seeped into her face as she waited.

"Because we always meet up at Jane and Maura's house for dinner. They have the biggest table, and Ma likes Maura's kitchen," came the sarcastic reply.

"_What?_" Cindy pushed away from her car to step closer to Frankie, eyes boring into him. "What do you mean your mother likes Maura's kitchen? Since when has she been cooking in that kitchen let alone having anything to do with that _lesbian whore_?"

Clearly outraged and extremely angry, Frankie took a step back to put distance between the two of them. "Maura is a _lady_, not a whore. You say that again, and I'll make sure it's the last time you do, and we never stopped loving either her _or_ Jane. They're _family_. You don't walk away from family. You do what you have to so you can protect family."

"What are you saying, Frankie?" Her voice went up and anger quickly started to turn to panic.

"I'm saying that we never disowned either of them. Maura is like a sister to me, and, even though I don't completely get it, for the first time since I can remember my big sister is happy. So what if it's a woman and not a man that's made her that way? Where do you or anyone else get off judging anyone for who they love?" He was yelling now, his voice echoing in the cold night air.

"So everything you said… everything you and your family ever _told_ me was a lie?" Cindy recoiled as if she'd been struck. "Why?"

"Because someone had to stop you," he answered, voice sharp and cold.

"It was all a lie? Our dates? Our time with your family? Everything you ever said about what you believe, who you are… it was a lie?" She shook her head, bringing one hand up to cover her mouth as her eyes began to fill with unshed tears. "How could you _do_ that, Frankie?"

"How? How could you destroy people's lives because you don't approve of who they love? Answer me _that_," he roared. From somewhere behind him, a door closed, but he wasn't paying attention. The only thing that mattered in this moment to him was ending the charade he'd started months ago and making sure she understood why it had happened to begin with. "You go around claiming to be Christian, claiming to follow the teachings of the church, but what you really do is spread hate, lies, and fear. It's disgusting, what you do, and what you were doing to really good people who were only trying to do their jobs and live their lives. You had no right, Cynthia. None. I did what I had to do to stop you before you could destroy another life because of your hate. But, I want to make myself clear here," he said, pointing at her as he did so, "I _never_ took advantage of you. I never slept with you. I never took anything from you. The _only_ thing I _ever_ did was ask you to come with me to family events, and you went. Hell, I think I've only kissed you twice since we started dating. Anything you thought you saw was just that. _You_ thought you saw. You see what you want to see. I never _told_ you anything about us."

"Everything we did was just to get me fired? I can't believe you," her eyes darted from him to a space behind him. "I can't believe _any _of you. The corruption, the immorality, it's all here. It's _exactly_ like I said. If you allow yourself to live with the corrupt, you become corrupt." She stepped back, opening her car door again. "By tomorrow, everyone is going to know what you've done, Frankie. I hope you're ready for that."

"Oh, I'm ready. Bring it, Cindy. I'm not scared." He crossed his arms, daring her to keep talking.

"You should be. I still have friends at the department, and they'll know what's happened here, how you lied to me and set me up to get fired. They'll all know what kind of person you are. No one's going to trust you by the time I'm done with you," she warned.

"You can try. I have my own friends, and," he turned around, eyes quickly finding his sister and her partner who calmly walked up to stand on either side of him, "when you have the best detective BPD has ever seen and the Chief Medical Examiner in your corner, it's hard to be scared of a couple of uniforms trying to make you act like you getting fired is a bad thing. It's _not_ a bad thing that you got fired, Cindy. It should have happened a long time ago."

Her eyes ran from Frankie to Jane and then Maura. Flustered, angry, hurt, and upset, she stood between her open door and her car, processing the scene. As her eyes ran back to Frankie, her face finally fell. "You can't win, you know," she said, voice notches lower than it had been a moment before. "People who support immorality, who are evil, they never win in the end. You might have gotten me fired, Frankie, but that doesn't mean the others who are still in there fighting the good fight won't take you down."

"I'm not scared, Cindy." He, too, dropped his voice, though he showed no signs of defeat. "Besides, if I start getting shit for you getting fired, I might have to let it slip how you were once a practicing Wiccan living in a commune in Oregon with fifty other people who all believed in free love and equal sharing. You know, it's amazing the amount of stuff a person can save on a flash drive."

Horror crossed her face. "You didn't? You wouldn't dare! That's not me anymore. I changed. I got…"

"About 4 gigs of data on a really interesting social experiment that I'm sure everyone at the station would _love _to see," he finished for her.

Without another word, she slipped into her seat, slammed her car door, and took off to leave the others there to contemplate what had just happened.

* * *

><p>"You going to be okay?" Jane asked as they sat around the dinning table. "Cindy's right, you know. She's got friends that could really mess you up, Frankie."<p>

"Yeah, I know, but I was serious about that flash drive full of stuff." He shrugged, popping a hummus covered veggie in his mouth. "She knows I'm not bluffing about that. If I go down, so does she, and I'm telling you right now that she doesn't want those pictures and video finding their way to anyone's inbox."

"I don't think I appreciate the blackmail happening here," Maura said, eyes glancing around the table. "Are we not behaving just as abhorrently as they are if we use blackmail against them?"

"We're not using it _against_ them, Maura," Tommy said, standing to take his plate to the sink. "We're using it to _protect_ us. I know you don't know what goes on in the guy's locker room, but I'm telling you that Frankie could get pretty jacked up if we hadn't made sure he had some kind of protection."

"I don't understand," the doctor frowned deeper.

"Those uniforms that are on Cindy's side?" Frankie explained, "If they found out what happened here, they'd beat the hell out of me. Seriously, I could have gotten really hurt."

Maura's head shot to Jane. "If I'd know that, I would never have agreed to this plan! Did you know that would be a possibility?"

Jane shifted in her chair, looking toward her mother for help who only shook her head. "Well, I mean, when you do undercover work…"

"Jane, answer me! Did you know that your brother's life could be put in danger for this?" Maura's eyes were beginning to harden.

"_I_ knew, and that's what matters," Frankie stepped in again. "Maura, you're my… well," he chuckled to himself. "I was about to say you're my sister, but Janie hasn't gotten around to making that official yet, so…"

"It's been four months! Don't be worse than Ma," Jane shot back. Angela gave her a hard look.

Frankie held his hands up in a show of innocence. "Look, all I'm saying is that I knew what I was getting into. Why do you think I know about that commune? As soon as I started this, I started looking for a safety net for when this would all be over. I lucked out on the commune thing, honestly. Who would have guessed she was a free loving hippie six years ago?"

"I don't like it, Frankie," Maura said, disapproval clearly in her voice. "I don't want anyone to put themselves in danger for my sake."

"Seriously?" Tommy took his place again, looking at the doctor as if she had a screw loose. "You really mean that?"

Angela's voice held warning. "Tommy."

"What? I'm just saying. I mean," he turned back toward the doctor. "Maura, Jane's killed not one but _two _people to protect you, shot herself, threatened a mob boss, taken out a serial murdering rapist, and stood up to your mother _twice_ to protect you."

"I… " Maura was clearly at a loss.

Tommy kept on going. "You don't do stuff like that just because. You do it when you really love someone, and Frankie and I… we care about you, too. If Jane can be a badass and take out people for you and take a bullet… even _if_ she put it there herself, then we can do stuff like date Cindy or call a friend to get info on her. By the way," Tommy turned to his brother, "Jackson says we don't owe him nothing for getting that stuff. He said the pictures and video were good enough payment."

Frankie smiled. "Awesome."

"Jane, I've never considered things in that way before." Maura's voice was quiet, sad. "Does being around me put you in that kind of danger? I never realized."

"No, being a Rizzoli puts me in that kind of danger. If it wasn't you, I'd be doing something else that put me in the line of fire, and I'd rather put my life on the line to protect you than just because," reaching out, Jane set her hand over Maura's. "I don't want my job to be an issue between us. We've been doing so well so far with it," she said softly, using the same phrasing Maura had used earlier in the night.

Swallowing down the growing lump in her throat, Maura gave a weak smile. Well, that's only because I demanded you be careful and take care of yourself now, and you do ask I ask." They smiled at each other, an understanding rolling between them that was lost to the others at the table.

"I'm just glad this is all over," Angela said. Her voice shook everyone, and all eyes turned toward her. "Now we can all get back to what's really important."

"Family?" Frankie asked.

"The game?" Tommy asked, nodding toward the television. "It's on right now."

"Dessert?" Jane asked hopefully.

"A peaceful resolution in the Middle East?" Maura asked, giving a small smirk.

"No," Angela said as she stood to clear the rest of the plates to make way for dessert. "Grandchildren."

"Oh God," Jane groaned, rolling her eyes as she let her head fall to the table. "Kill me now."

"Perhaps a little too soon, Angela?" Maura offered, patting Jane's head.

"It's never too soon to start planning for the future, Maura. Now," the eldest Rizzoli said, eyes dancing with delight, "which one of you is going to carry my first grandbaby…"

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for sticking with me. I realize this one's a lot longer than my normal stuff. Please tell me what you thought of the over all story; I would love to hear as I think it may actually be one of my more coherent works. I'm curious to see if any of you think so or how you feel about the realism and believability of the story minus the little bit of deus ex machina I used there at the end.<strong>


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